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 [...]
On April 1, 2015 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) 2016. Our intelligence and past experience suggest that this year’s H-1B cap season will be very short — five business days. Our office is already [...]
The short answer is yes. Benching H-1B workers can lead to a criminal visa fraud indictment. Employers who hire H-1B employees and fail to pay the wages indicated in the Labor Condition Application during a work stoppage may be violating the terms set forth in the Department of Labor regulations. The practice of “benching” H-1B [...]
The Department of Labor has provided some updates for the fourth quarter of the Fiscal Year 2014 (July 1, 2014 to September 30, 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 (Fourth Quarter, 2014 Fiscal [...]
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 and the current trends with respect to H-1B work visa petitions where there is a change in [...]
