Now that the H-1B cases have been filed, we are anxiously waiting to get the news from USCIS on the cap count. Last year, USCIS announced on April 5 that it received approximately 124,000 H-1B petitions during the five day filing period, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption.…
Our office receives many inquiries from start-up companies that want to hire employees under H-1B visa. As the H-1B season has begun, we would like to provide our readers with the updates and important considerations for this category of H-1B visas. The following article was prepared by attorney Ekaterina Powell…
Reactions to the release of the House GOP leadership’s principles for immigration reform tended more toward cautious praise for releasing something as a starting point, but with serious doubts about the shortcomings of the actual policy proposals. Because these principles are guidelines—without specific detail—“cautious optimism” is probably the healthiest approach…
We previously reported on the temporary freeze on filing H2B visas. H-2B petitions for temporary non-agricultural workers are being adjudicated once again at the Vermont Service Center (VSC). VSC anticipates completing pending petitions by early May, and have advised that no action is required by petitioners. The suspension of H-2B…
So the H1B season is over, faster than expected. But what occupations were the most popular this H1B season, how many Computers Programmers, Engineers, Consultants, etc were filed this past few months? The Labor Department provided statistics as to the number of Labor Condition Applications (LCA) filed this season. LCA…
Bad news, but it is official. The annual H-1B cap has been reached for this year, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and at a pace that is several months ahead of last year. The U.S. issues 85,000 H-1B visas each year under its cap, with 20,000 of…
According to Michael Barone’s Examiner column today about immigration brings to mind interesting points. Michael concludes: My prediction is that we won’t ever again see the heavy Latin immigration we saw between 1983 and 2007, which averaged 300,000 legal immigrants and perhaps as many illegals annually. Mexican and other Latin…
This is the latest update regarding the H1B cap numbers. As of April 13, 2012, approximately 20,600 H-1B cap-subject petitions were receipted. Additionally, USCIS has receipted 9,700 H-1B petitions for aliens with US advanced degrees. With respect to the H1B Cap, most people only need to be counted against the…
With a few days left before the April 2, 2012 deadline, we learned that poor filing decisions make risk your case delivery and as a result miss the H1B cap. USCIS stated that cases are considered “accepted on the date that USCIS takes possession of a properly filed petition with…
A recent USCIS Q&As, updated on March 12, 2012, provide information on establishing an H-1B employer-employee relationship. New questions include information on end-client documentation and establishing an employer-employee relationship in the consulting or staffing company context. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a memorandum ( dated January 8,…