Hammond Law Group, LLC

Unconfirmed resources are reporting that the Department of State has stated that no more visa numbers would be made available for EB2 India and China until possibly October 1, 2008. The USCIS fears that it has used up so many of the freed-up EB2 numbers for Indian and Chinese applicants that persons born in other countries will not have EB2 numbers available to them. HLG will continue to monitor this situation and will keep you posted when this rumor is verified by the DOS.

Alan Greenspan, long-time Chairman of the Federal Reserve, suggested Thursday that part of the solution to the US housing crunch is to allow in more H-1 workers.  Greenspan’s told the WSJ that these highly compensated workers would help absorb the excess housing supply.

 As we mentioned in June, The Programmers Guild sued the USCIS, asking for an injunction against the new OPT rules that were announced in March.  Computerworld notes that U.S. District Court Judge Faith Hochberg has denied a preliminary injunction sought by the Programmers Guild, the Immigration Reform Law Institute and other groups. The ruling focuses more on the procedural elements of the case; namely, whether or not the Plaintiffs have standing to sue the Department of Labor.  Generally Plaintiffs must prove that they have or will be directly hurt by the enactment of the rule. “Instead of alleging concrete injury, plaintiffs assert a generalized grievance with a particular government policy,” said the Court.