Many of our readers are aware that as of April 7, 2015, USCIS had received a sufficient number of H-1B cap-subject petitions to fill the annual H-1B quota. This year's number of filings (233,000) is at an all-time high, meaning that about 1 in 3 H-1B cap applications will be selected for review. As USCIS [...]
As our office is gearing up for May 26, 2015 when the first H-4 Spouse EAD applications under the new rule can be filed, we are still looking forward to clarifications and updates from USCIS on a number of important topics. Here are four major issues which affect a number of H-4 EAD applicants [...]
A recent Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) decision which highlighted the requirement for an H-1B amendment any time there is a change in the job site requiring a new Labor Condition Application (LCA) has created a lot of conversation in some H-1B circles and our office has been handling many inquiries, concerns and reactions to the [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the May 2015 Visa Bulletin which is the eighth Visa Bulletin for the FY2015 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the significant 7.5-month forward movement in EB-2 India and the 14-month forward movement in EB-2 China. EB-3 Philippines moves back by seven [...]
Our office just learned that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has completed the intake and processing of all of the fiscal year (FY2016) H-1B cap petitions. According to USCIS, there were nearly 233,000 H-1B cap petitions filed during the April 1st-7th filing period. This marks a 35% percent increase in the number of [...]
Our office serves many first-time and returning reentry permit applicants and our clients and readers often want to know the options for extending (technically, obtaining a new) reentry permit if their circumstances require continued stay outside of the United States. We have addressed the renewal options and strategies in earlier articles; however, an additional follow-up [...]
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced that, as of today, April 7th, they have received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to meet the annual H-1B cap for the 2015 fiscal year (FY2016). According to USCIS, they have received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed for beneficiaries with U.S. master’s degree and more [...]
A recent report by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) focused on the denial rates for the L-1B visas. In its March 2015 report NFAP analyzes denial rates over a number of years and for a number of different beneficiaries, from a variety of countries. The conclusion is that the denial rate for L-1B [...]
Our office closely monitors not only each monthly Visa Bulletin but also any developments and updates from here in Washington, DC which may give us some idea on upcoming movements and surprises. Our goal is to share any and all credible information with our clients and readers in order to allow proper planning and to [...]
The U.S. State Department has just released the April 2015 Visa Bulletin which is the seventh Visa Bulletin for the FY2015 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the significant eight-month forward movement in EB-2 India and the seven-month forward movement in EB-2 China. EB-3 also moves forward nicely with [...]
