Visa Lawyer Blog

The H1B Frenzy is almost over, see below a sample of what some cases looked like before leaving our office.

It is likely that companies will file fewer H-1B visa applications for Fiscal Year 2010 as a result of the economic recession. However, there will still be demand for the talent and innovation that drives our Nation’s economy. It is unknown how may H-1B professional and specialty occupation visa petitions will be filed tomorrow (when the USCIS begins accepting petitions for FY 2010 tomorrow). It seems almost certain that all 85,000 visas will be utilized before the fiscal year begins on October 1st, 2009.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington recently ruled in Ruiz-Diaz v. United States that a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) regulation is “unreasonable and impermissible.” A federal judge has struck down a long-standing government policy that made it tougher for religious workers from other countries to remain in the United States. Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik wrote in an order issued last week that the policy was at odds with the intent of Congress.

Ruiz-Diaz potentially provides religious workers who have filed I-360 petitions with the ability to concurrently file adjustment of status applications. This would allow religious workers whose underlying R visa status is expiring (the R is valid for five years) to remain in the U.S. as adjustment of status applicants. At present, the I-360 approval process is lengthy, after which point the religious worker can file an adjustment application, due to the need to conduct a site investigation on each filing.

Under the Department of Homeland Security’s policy, religious workers who came to the United States on a typical five-year temporary visa were not allowed to file for permanent residency — their green card — until a separate visa petition by their employer had been approved.

Starting April 3, employers must use a revised Employment Eligibility Verification form I-9 which is dated February 2, 2009.

Until such time, employers must continue to use the I-9 form dated June 5, 2007.

The most significant changes in the new form are:

As I am writing this post, my fingers are hurting from the amount of H1B forms I had to sign today. We are almost ready with our cases. Yet, last minute clients are calling in need of our services. Tomorrow will be the last day we accept cases (I promised my wife:))

The H-1B filing season is upon us once again, fiercer than ever. The first day to file cap-subject petitions for FY 2010 is April 1, 2009. In the event that more petitions are received than the annual cap, USCIS will conduct a lottery to pick petitions to be adjudicated. Additionally, employers that are recipients of TARP funding have new requirements when filling out the newly revised Form I-129 and additional attestation requirements for the Labor Condition application.

USCIS has confirmed that if USCIS determines that they have received a sufficient number of cases in the first five business days of April to reach the cap, then the “lottery” will be based on petitions received all five days. USCIS will not begin to issue receipts, however, until a determination is made that sufficient H-1B petitions have been received within the first five business days of April, ending April 7, 2009.