Yesterday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced start dates for premium processing of fiscal year (FY) 2020 cap-subject H-1B petitions. USCIS will review premium processing requests in two phases. The first phase will process cap-subject petitions that request a change of status and the second phase will include all other FY 2020 cap-subject petitions.
H-1B Cap
FY2020 H-1B Cap: Registration and Lottery Selection Update
By Catherine V. Wadhwani on
Posted in H-1B Temporary Workers, Immigrant Visas
Cap-subject US employers and their prospective employees alike have been waiting on edge to find out whether the FY2020 H-1B Cap Season would proceed as before or whether US Citizenship and Immigration Service’s (USCIS’s) recently proposed significant changes would be implemented to take effect before April 2019. The result: the Registration requirement will not take …
Expansive Final Rule Affecting Employment-Based Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Visa Programs Published – good news for H-1B visa holders and those seeking permanent residency
On November 18, 2016, US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule to “improve aspects of certain employment-based nonimmigrant and immigrant visa programs.” This final rule also “amended regulations to better enable U.S. employers to hire and retain certain foreign workers who are beneficiaries of approved employment-based immigrant visa petitions and are waiting…
FY2017 H-1B Cap: Data Entry Complete for Lottery Winners
By Catherine V. Wadhwani on
Posted in H-1B Temporary Workers, Startup Companies
Moving quickly along, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) informed the public that it completed data entry of all “winning” fiscal year 2017 (FY2017) H-1B cap-subject petitions (i.e., petitions that were selected in the computer-generated random process). The announcement was made on May 2, 2016. Considering that approximately 236,000 H-1B cap-subject petitions were received…
FY2017 H-1B Cap: USCIS Temporarily Suspends Use of Pre-Paid Mailers for Certain H-1B Cap Subject Petitions
By Alka Bahal on
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on April 20, 2016 that that for two weeks after premium processing resumes for H-1B cap-subject petitions (scheduled to start on May 12, 2016), USCIS will temporarily suspend use of Pre-Paid Mailers. This means that USCIS will not use any provided pre-paid mailers submitted with H-1B cap petitions…
FY2017 H-1B Cap: Premium Processing to Start on May 12, 2016
By Catherine V. Wadhwani on
Posted in H-1B Temporary Workers, Priority Dates
This just in…the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a news release on Friday, April 22nd stating that the premium processing clock will start on Thursday, May 12, 2016. In other words, on May 12, 2016, USCIS will begin premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions.
Readers may recall that an H-1B petitioner may opt…
USCIS Completes the H-1B Cap Random Selection Process for FY 2017
By Alka Bahal on
On April 7, 2016, USCIS announced that it has received enough H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 visas for fiscal year (FY) 2017. USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the advanced degree exemption, also known as the master’s cap.
Yesterday USCIS announced that, on…
FY 2017 H-1B Cap Reached on April 7, 2016
By Catherine V. Wadhwani on
Posted in H-1B Temporary Workers, Startup Companies
As anticipated, the number of cap-subject H-1B petitions filed by U.S. employers exceeded the 65,000 general cap and the 20,000 master’s degree exemption for fiscal year 2017 (FY2017).
Yesterday, April 7, 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS or the Immigration Service) announced that the FY 2017 H-1B cap had been reached and that it…
FY 2017 H-1B Cap Petitions: What to Expect
By Catherine V. Wadhwani on
Posted in H-1B Temporary Workers, Startup Companies
As you likely know, April 1st was the first day when cap-subject H-1B petitions could be accepted for Fiscal Year 2017. Now that the filings have started, here is a quick summary of some key information provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS or Immigration Services) in a March 16, 2016 release…
DHS Asks Court to Extend Stay on STEM OPT Until May 10, 2016
By Alka Bahal on
On December 22, 2015, DHS filed a motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 60(b)(6) requesting that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia extend the stay of vacatur of the 2008 STEM OPT interim final rule for 90 days, in order to give the government additional time to analyze the more…