A few days ago USCIS updated the count of H-2B petitions received and counted towards the H-2B cap. As of July 1, 2008, 17,305 petitions have been counted towards the 33,000 cap for the first half of fy 2009. For the lawyers filing H2B visas and employers needing them badly,…
The American Immigration Lawyers Association reports that USCIS Service Center Operations has provided the following information to AILA liaison regarding processing cases under the FY2009 H-1B cap: 1. Except for cases that were being reviewed as potential duplicate filings, all receipts have been issued for those cases selected in the…
More bad news for H1B visa holders. DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel released a memo on the payment of back wages to doctors hired on H-1B visas by the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”), stating “the statute authorizing the H-1B visa program does not waive the federal Government’s sovereign immunity.…
ComputerWorld’s Patrick Thibodeau is doing an excellent job covering H1B and the Green Crisis in the past two years. I was happy to be interviewed for his H1B article coverage in early April. His most recent article regarding the need for Green Card Fix is right on the money. He…
We continue our updates on the new TN visa extension rules. USCIS announced today that it is publishing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to increase the maximum amount of time a Trade- NAFTA (TN) professional worker from Canada or Mexico can remain in the United States before seeking readmission or…
DHS issued an updated OPT filing guide for schools and students.In April, DHS published an Interim Final Rule (IFR) titled Extending Period of Optional Practical Training by 17 Months for F-1 Nonimmigrant Students With STEM Degrees and Expanding Cap-Gap Relief for All F-1 Students With Pending H-1B Petitions. The revised…
The H1B madness is almost behind us, yet potential workers and employers alike are still curious and interested in this visa. They often want to know when will they be able to apply again and what is this visa all about. The H1B status is for foreign workers who will…
Some good news for Canadians and Mexican nationals seeking to live and work in the US. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has cleared a proposed DHS rule to allow TN visa holders to stay in the US for three (3)years instead of the current one (1) year limit.…
Recently the Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee held an oversight hearing on the H-2B seasonal worker visa program. As I have previously reported, the Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act of 2005 (SOS Act) created a cap exemption for “returning…
Good news for the aspiring self employed H1B workers. An AAO non-precedent decision finds that a corporation has a separate legal identity from its owner, even if it is owned and operated by a single person. Also finds that the proffered position is a specialty occupation, despite the fact that…