Visa Lawyer Blog

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Here is the latest on the H1B visa numbers. May 21, 2010 H-2B Cap Count

As of 05/21/10, USCIS receipted 26,422 H-2B petitions, towards the 47,000 beneficiaries target for the second half of the fiscal year.* This count includes 25,178 approved and 1,244 pending petitions.

With all the hype, hysteria and hot air generated around the H1-B visa program issue during the past several years, one fundamental truism remains: the current annual level of H-1B visas being utilized in the United States is about the same level as in 1990.

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As the H1B season still in full force, we would like to share this great tip from AILA. This post discuss where to file H-1B extensions for beneficiaries working for petitioners, which are not cap exempt, but who are “employed at” cap exempt facilities.

The VSC (Vermont Service Center) refers to the September 10, 2009, USCIS Guidance regarding the direct filing address for I-129 petitions, noting that H-1B employers filing petitions which are cap exempt must file such petitions exclusively with the California Service Center.

VSC notes that in this instance, the term “cap exempt” refers only to those petitioners who are exempt from the numerical limitations identified in 8 CFR 214.2 (h)(8)(i)(A). “Cap exempt” petitioners are those described in 8 CFR 214.2(h)(19)(iii), and include:

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Take a look at this second grader who asked First Lady Michelle Obama whether the President was going to “take away” people who didn’t have “papers”. Apparently, the child’s mother had expressed some fear in the privacy of their home.

Michelle Obama, who is also the nation’s “First Mom” handled the question beautifully, assuring the little girl that the broken immigration law was a problem Congress would “have to fix”. How do you think the first lady handled this question?

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Further to the Department’s proposed rule to amend the Schedule of Fees for Consular Services (Schedule) for nonimmigrant visa and border crossing card application processing fees, this rule raises from $131 to $140 the fee charged for the processing of an application for most non-petition-based nonimmigrant visas (Machine-Readable Visas or MRVs) and adult Border Crossing Cards (BCCs).

The rule also provides new tiers of the application fee for certain categories of petition- based nonimmigrant visas and treaty trader and investor visas (all of which are also MRVs).

Finally, the rule increases the $13 BCC fee charged to Mexican citizen minors who apply in Mexico, and whose parent or guardian already has a BCC or is applying for one, by raising that fee to $14 by virtue of a congressionally mandated surcharge that went into effect in 2009.

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As of May 14, 2010, approximately 19,000 H-1B cap-subject petitions were received. Additionally, USCIS has received 8,100 H-1B petitions for aliens with advanced degrees.

What organizations are cap exempt for example?

Nonprofit Organizations “Affiliated” with Institutions of Higher Education Are Cap Exempt

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Today, the ACLU, the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Immigration Law Center, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, ACLU of Arizona, National Day Laborer Organizing Network and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice) filed a federal lawsuit against the state’s sheriffs and county attorneys, asking the court to find S.B. 1070 unconstitutional. It violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law because it unlawfully invites the racial profiling of Latinos and other people who look or sound “foreign-born.”
It also violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution by interfering with the federal government’s authority to regulate and enforce immigration. Our lawsuit is on behalf of a diverse coalition of Arizona residents and organizations including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Southside Presbyterian Church, the Asian Chamber of Commerce of Arizona, and the Muslim American Society.

Read the complete posting from the ACLU website here…

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Last week we became members of Global Alliance of Hospitality Attorneys , this will allow us to serve our clients even better and offer solution to the ever changing global workforce that the hospitality industry is facing.

Whether transferring employees between international properties or employing management trainees, immigration is an integral part of the hospitality industry. The top seven visa types utilized by the hospitality industry are the J-1, H-3,H2B, L-1,E2, TN and H-1B. The following is a brief outline of each of these visa types:

E2 Visa

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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has redesigned the Permanent Resident Card—commonly known as the “Green Card”—to incorporate several

major new security features. State-of-the-art technology prevents counterfeiting, obstructs

tampering, and facilitates quick and accurate authentication of the card. Beginning today,

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As of May 11, 2010, approximately 18,000 H-1B cap-subject petitions were filed. Additionally, USCIS has received 7,600 H-1B petitions for aliens with advanced degrees. Still fewer visas than expected, sign of the times. We expect filings to pick after the May graduations and into the summer.

So what is this H1B Cap all about?

The current law limits to 65,000 the number of aliens who may be issued a visa or otherwise provided H-1B status each fiscal year (FY). The numerical limitation was temporarily raised to 195,000 in FY2001, FY2002 and FY2003. In addition, excluded from the ceiling are all H-1B non-immigrants who work at (but not necessarily for) universities and non-profit research facilities. This means that contractors working at, but not directly employed by the institution may be exempt from the cap. Free Trade Agreements allow a carve out from the numerical limit of 1,400 for Chilean nationals and 5,400 for Singapore nationals. Laws also exempt up to 20,000 foreign nationals holding a master’s or higher degree from U.S. universities from the cap on H-1B visas.

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