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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 year or, in other words, when will the H-1B cap be reached? So far we have been able to compare demand with prior H-1B filing seasons and we knew [...]
Since the H-4 Spouse EAD rule announcement yesterday, our office has been receiving a number of questions and inquiries about the rule. the rule. For example, many people are interested to know whether the approved I-140 petition, which is one of the eligibility factors, must be from a current employer or it can be from [...]
After months of waiting and anticipation, USCIS has finally announced that effective May 26, 2015, USCIS will begin accepting applications for I-765 Employment Authorization Document (EAD) applications by certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants who are seeking employment-based lawful permanent resident (LPR) status. Who is Eligible to Apply for EAD? H-4 spouses who are [...]
One of the main areas of expertise of our firm is handling H-1B petitions for a number of organizations around the United States. Our readers are aware that the H-1B petition allows the election of a premium processing service which, for an additional government filing fee of $1,410 (was $1,225), guarantees that the government will [...]
Spring and early summer are generally busy period for recent foreign college graduates as far as employment immigration is concerned. On one hand, foreign college graduates are either applying for their initial term OPT, their 17-month STEM extensions (if they qualify) or their H-1B work visas under the H-1B cap. Our office fields many questions [...]
The Department of Labor has provided some updates for the first quarter of the Fiscal Year 2015 (October 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014) on their processing of PERM, H-1B LCA and prevailing wage determination cases and we are happy to share them with our clients and readers. DOL Processing Statistics (First Quarter, 2015 Fiscal [...]
