What does EB stand for?

The Visa Office has advised that, based on processing in the first part of the fiscal year, all 140,000 employment-based immigrant visa numbers will be used this fiscal year (ending September 30, 2009).

But recent decisions by the USCIS show a totally different trend in adjudicating employment-based immigrant visa petitions.

In 2004, the limit for family-sponsored immigrants was 226,000 to 480,000, and 140,000 for employment-based immigrants (USCIS, 2006).

As a naturalized citizen of Chinese ancestry with extensive professional experience preparing family- and employment-based immigrant petitions, I am disappointed over the lack of will in Washington to reduce legal immigration.

Fewer than 80,000 employment-based immigrant visas were issued last year, and usage of H1B "nonimmigrant" visas has ranged from 54,000 to 62,000 a year, with around 400,000 such visa-holders estimated to be in the country at any time.

This language may sound familiar because it is very similar to the one used to define "extraordinary ability" under the first employment-based immigrant visa petition.

John specializes in labor certification, employment-based immigrant petitions, corporate nonimmigrant matters, immigration implications of mergers and acquisitions, I-9 and social security "no-matches", as well as counseling companies on corporate best practices.

; an improvement of E-Verify and growth of the E-Verify program; continuing backlogs in employment-based immigrant visas, particularly for those born in India and China, and those jobs requiring less than a master's degree to perform the duties (EB-3); in the name of security, delays in the issuance of H-1B visas by consuls throughout the world but, particularly, in the Indian subcontinent; aberrant decisions by USCIS on a whole host of issues as the implementation of the transition of the Obama Administration trickles down to the level of immigration adjudicators; and loud and acrimonious debate on Comprehensive Immigration Reform.