Many of our readers are aware that as of April 5, 2013, USCIS has received a sufficient number of H-1B cap-subject petitions to fill the annual H-1B quota. All cap-subject new H-1B petitions received by USCIS on or after April 5th have been rejected. Additionally, due to the high number of H-1B petitions (124,000), the [...]
One of the most popular U.S. work visas, the H-1B, will start accepting filings for new H-1B employment on April 1. Pursuant to each yearly H-1B quota, new H-1B filings can be filed on April 1, at the earliest, for a starting date of employment on or after October 1. The H-1B Quota and [...]
It is only Tuesday and this week has already been full of immigration proposals. After yesterday's announcement for a blueprint for a comprehensive immigration reform, today a group of Senators has released an actual draft bill which picks up where yesterday's proposal left off with respect to employment-based immigration. Senators Orrin Hatch of Utah, Amy [...]
The Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed substantial revisions to Form 9035 (and its instructions), Labor Condition Application, which is used to support a number of employment-based visas, including H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3. The proposed changes to the form are significant in many respects -- the government now requires all LCA beneficiaries (up to 10 [...]
We have been monitoring developments around the H.R. 3012 legislation aimed at removing the per-country annual limits for the immigrant visa categories. We have written extensively in the past and many of our clients and readers are very interested in any developments with H.R. 3012 because of its wide (and significant) impact on employment-based immigrant [...]
The Brookings Institute has completed and released an interesting report (PDF document, accompanied by interactive charts) on the H-1B program. The report aims to provide a deeper analysis of the H-1B program and to understand the issues and the competitive advantages (or lack thereof) of one of the H-1B work visa which is the most [...]
Many of our readers are aware that as of June 11, 2012, USCIS has received a sufficient number of H-1B cap-subject petitions to fill the annual H-1B quota. All cap-subject new H-1B petitions received by USCIS on or after June 12th will be rejected. Throughout the entire H-1B cap season, our office was providing weekly [...]
One of the most popular U.S. work visas, the H-1B, will start accepting filings for new H-1B employment on April 2. Pursuant to each yearly H-1B quota, new H-1B filings can be filed on April 1 (April 2nd this year because April 1st is a Sunday), at the earliest, for a starting date of employment [...]
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) is set to begin accepting H-1B visa applications pursuant to its Fiscal Year 2013 (FY2013) quota. The first day on which USCIS will accept new, cap-subject H-1B petitions, is Monday, April 2, 2012. About the H-1B Program and the Annual Cap The H-1B visa category was created in [...]
Among increased scrutiny and often long waiting period to obtain an H-1B (and sometimes even H-4 for their dependents) visa stamp, a number of US-based IT consulting employees are understandably nervous about traveling abroad and attending the H-1B visa stamp interview. Our office handles a substantial number of such H-1B petitions and H-1B visa stamp [...]