Aug. 15, 2007, 5:00pm 

 The last Visa Bulletin from the Department of State for the Fiscal Year 2007 just came out and as anticipated and reported in our earlier postings, ALL employment based visa availability is seriously backlogged.  Specifically, all EB-3 are simply “Unavailable” for people from China, India and Mexico and for the rest of the world as well as all other categories for all countries are assigend a Jan. 1, 2007 priority date.  This situation is only getting worse, because this special and dramatic July Visa Bulletin related filings during the extended time window until Aug. 17, 2007 or this Friday have not been accounted for just yet, and when all those numbers get entered into the system one can only imagine the backlog is definitely not going to improve soon.  So, if you have not yet filed your affected employment based cases, if eligible, you need to contact us IMMEDIATELY and for those existing clients whom we already filed the I-485 and other derivative applications, a long wait is anticipated until their I-485 can be actually adjudicated.  But, the good thing is once your I-485 is filed, you don’t have to worry about your H-1B renewal any more and you are eligible to apply for advanced parole for travel purpose and your spouse can even get an EAD to start working as well.

If you are an existing client, please go to our “Existing Clients ”.

 Aug. 15, 2007, 7:00pm

 Final Reminder: The final deadline for July Visa Bulletin related employment based filings is Aug. 17, 2007, this Friday!  Yu, South & Associates designated special taskforce in the past 3 weeks and has completed as of yesterday afternoon all the filings for every single one of our existing and known clients that we can make contact with.  We even brought back a few clients who went back to their home countries on vacation or travelling overseas in time to catch this last opportunity before the window closes tomorrow.  If you or you know a friend who might be eligible for this special privilege have not done so yet, please contact us IMMEDIATELY because we MIGHT still have the possibility to complete your application to beat the deadline before tomorrow.  It is critical that you get in touch with us right away because there will be no visa available at all for the rest of the fiscal year for the EB-3 preference workers for example according to the latest September 2007 Visa Bulletin just announced earlier today by the US Department of State.  Further, any derivative filings based on the pending I-485 pursuant to the July Visa Bulletin, if not filed before this same deadline, will be subject to the new higher filing fee schedule as announced, too.

You can click here to view the actual Visa Bulletin for the September 2007 published by US DOS:

Visa Bulletin for September 2007 by US State Department

Please make sure you have filed all your affected applications, if eligible, and make sure anyone you know have also done the same.  Otherwise, contact us right away!

If you are an existing client, please go to our “Existing Clients ” sectiion.

 Aug. 7, 2007, 2:00pm

 We have MOVED … to our own new office building at: 132 N. Glenville Drive, Richardson, TX 75081.  Please click on “Contact Us” from the top menu for details and directions.  We look forward to your continued patronage and support at this permanent location for many years to come!  Thank you.

 Aug. 7, 2007, 7:00pm

 USCIS yesterday announced its recent efforts in processing the overwhelming number of cases it received and its progress in catching up on the issuance of the receipts for those filings.  Among the most anxious waiting list is the employment based I-140 and I-485 receipts issuance because all the applicants are desperate for the official confirmation to make sure that their applications are in fact properly filed before the upcoming expiration date of Aug. 17, 2007.  Since most of our clients reside in the Texas Service Center, we are posting the Progress Report for the Texas Service Center herein:

Form I-140     ==>> Receipts are being issued for cases received on or before July 30, 2007

Form I-485     ==>> Receipts are being issued for cases receivedon or before June 26, 2007

Form I-131     ==>> Receipts are being issued for cases received on or before June 26, 2007

Form N-400  ==>> Receipts are being issued for cases received on or before July 9, 2007

All other cases ==>> Receipts are being issued for cases received on or before July 30, 2007

If you are an existing client, please go to our “Existing Clients” section from the top menu for further instructions and additional details that might affect your case filing status or go to"Existing Clients”.

 July 31, 2007, 5:00pm

 Washington, D.C. – Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) today introduced a bill to void the recent increases in immigration fees by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The bill would void the new fee structure set to take effect today and reinstate the previous fee structure. The bill also states that USCIS has consistently failed to reduce application backlogs and has suffered from a lack of transparency and effective management.Rep. Zoe Lofgren played a critical rule in the most recent successful reinstatement of the July Visa Bulletin on the availability of employment based visa numbers and has been an active figure of a unique and important role in immigration reform.  She is actually the Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law, among other important positions. 

Click on the following link for the actual announcement by Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s office on her own website:  http://lofgren.house.gov/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1819

Click on this link hereunder for the actual text of her proposed bill, not yet nubmered:
Zoe Lofgren’s Bill to Void USCIS Fee Increase 07-31-2007

July 30, 2007, 5:00pm 

 Today is the day for the USCIS new and increased filing fee schedule finally becoming effective and Yu, South & Associates posts this notice here to serve as a reminder that any cases you file or plan to file from now on with the USCIS will be subject to the new filing fee rates.  It is very important that your own filings must be accompanied by correct fees to avoid being rejected by USCIS and this becomes critical if your case has a deadline or fast approaching expiration date within 2 to 3 weeks time because that’s normally how long it takes the USCIS to reject a filing in most cases.  So, if you are planning to “Do It Yourself” please double check on the exact filing fees before sending the package out.Also, as announced on July 17, 2007 by USCIS, certain employment based filings will be treated as sepcial exemption from this new fee schedule and you can find more on the new fee schedule as well as those exceptions and limitations by clicking here:

 New Filing Fee Reminder for July 30 2007