Our office handles a substantial number of H-1B work visa petitions for a variety of U.S. employers and we often share our direct experiences with the H-1B work visa program. This article is intended to share our experience with H-1B work visa petitions where there is a change of the job location once the H-1B [...]
Our office receives a number of inquiries from current and prospective clients, employers and individuals, as to whether an H-1B worker who is beneficiary of a pending H-1B transfer petition can be readmitted into the U.S. based on the valid H-1B visa stamp and the pending H-1B transfer petition. Reported Incidents of Refused H-1B Admissions [...]
The H-1B season is well underway and USCIS just released the first “official” FY2012 update on the number of cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 1 for both the Vermont and California Service Centers. As of April 8, 2011, USCIS has received approximately 5,900 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap. This count means that as [...]
After the recent earthquakes and tsunami in Japan, our office is receiving a number of inquiries by Japanese nationals regarding relief options and alternatives in various U.S. immigration situations. USCIS has also indicated that they would provide relief in a number of situations understanding that a disaster may affect the ability of an individual to [...]
In early January we wrote about a USCIS proposal to create a pre-registration system for new H-1B cap cases in order to make the H-1B cap application process more efficient and to eliminate waste associated with H-1B cap petitions which are filed on or shortly after April 1st (when the H-1B cap filing window opens) [...]
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service ("USCIS") has proposed a change to the relevant regulations requiring all employers who wish to file for an initial H-1B cap petition to preregister with USCIS. The proposal is for an electronic registration program for petitions subject to numerical limitations for the H-1B nonimmigrant classification. In the future, other classifications [...]
USCIS has just announced that petitioners will not be required to complete Part 6 of Form I-129 containing the export controls/ITAR questions until February 20, 2011. In a response to stakeholder inquiries and concerns of proper implementation, USCIS has agreed to the delay in implementation in order to give petitioners time to establish the [...]
In addition to the numerous inquiries on filing a new I-140 when a previous I-140 is pending on appeal, our office handles a number of such new I-140 filings. Pursuant to USCIS guidance, a previously approved labor certification which was timely used to file an I-140 can, in many circumstances, be subsequently used to file [...]
The H-1B season is well underway. Yesterday we reported on the Vermont Service Center's H-1B FY2011 numbers as of April 5. Today, USCIS released the first "official" FY2011 information on the numbers of cap-subject H-1Bs filed since April 1 for both the Vermont and California Service Centers. As of April 8, 2010, USCIS has received [...]
In a decision dated as of March 26, 2010, the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) has spelled out what we think is an an important policy change affecting employment-based permanent residency applicants who are beneficiaries of a labor certification either as a substitute or as the initial beneficiary of a subsequently-substituted labor certification. Brief Background on [...]