The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced that, as of Friday, April 7th, they have received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to meet the annual H-1B cap for the 2018 fiscal year (FY2018). According to USCIS, they have received more [...]
As we are going into the peak of the H-1B cap season, our office receives many inquiries about the duration of the H-1B filing season this [...]
USCIS has announced that effective April 3, 2017, they are temporarily suspending premium processing for all H-1B petitions for a period of up to six months. This surprising announcement comes in light of the anticipated heavy demand and number of [...]
On April 3, 2017 the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will start accepting applications for one of the most popular U.S. work visas, H-1B, for fiscal year (FY) 2018. Our intelligence [...]
On November 14, 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a revised version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification which is available to use starting immediately. Starting Jan. 22, 2017, employers must use only the new version, dated 11/14/2016 N. Until then, they can continue to use the version dated 03/08/2013 N or the new [...]
During the election campaign, President-elect Trump put immigration at the center of his agenda and platform and made a commitment to the voters to take immediate steps relating to immigration upon taking office on January 20, 2017. There are certain immigration-related steps that [...]
Many of our readers are aware of the way first-time H-1B work visas are allocated – via a random lottery conducted as part of each year’s H-1B cap filing season in early April. The way the lottery is conducted has been kept secret and [...]
The definition of an H-1B dependent employer is important in a number of ways, including due to the H-1B regulations’ certain additional recruitment and attestation requirements to such employers. For H-1B employers, it is important to understand the definition and apply the analysis during each H-1B [...]
In an August 3, 2016 opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that in situations where beneficiaries of I-140 petition have ported their I-485 adjustment of status application to a new employer pursuant [...]
The Administrative Appeals Office (“AAO”) recently issued a decision in a case focusing on the correct interpretation of the L-1A visa requirements for functional managers. In Matter of Z-A-, Inc., the AAO clarified that when determining whether the foreign national will primarily manage an essential function, USCIS must consider all relevant factors, including the foreign [...]
