H-1B Cap

September 30, 2013

What Happens If the Government Shuts Down? – Updated 9/30/13

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has requested information from the federal government agencies involved in the immigration system for updates on their contingency plans in case of a government shutdown. A possible government shutdown could happen as early as October 1, 2013, the beginning of the new fiscal year 2014 (FY2014). AILA has reported that they have not received any updated information at this time. They suggested reviewing the shutdown plans for the last threatened federal government shutdown, which was in 2011.

Below is an excerpt from MVP Law Group’s original blog post on the subject dated (4/8/11).

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September 19, 2013

Updated Service Center Processing Times

by Kellie N. Lego

Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 9/17/13 with processing dates as of 7/31/13.

If you filed a petition with one of the Service Centers, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.

California Service Center

August 27, 2013

Updated Service Center Processing Times

by Kellie N. Lego

Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 8/20/13 with processing dates as of 6/30/13.

If you filed a petition with one of the Service Centers, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.

California Service Center

August 9, 2013

Updated Service Center Processing Times

by Kellie N. Lego

Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 8/2/13 with processing dates as of 5/31/13.

If you filed a petition with one of the Service Centers, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.

California Service Center

May 28, 2013

Updated Service Center Processing Times

by Kellie N. Lego

Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 5/21/13 with processing dates as of 3/31/13.

If you filed a petition with one of the Service Centers, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.

California Service Center

April 18, 2013

Update on FY2014 H-1B Cap Cases

by Kellie N. Lego

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has started the data entry of H-1B petitions selected during the April 7th random lottery. On April 12, 2013, Donald Neufeld, USCIS Associate Director of the Service Center Operations told the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) that data entry for premium processing will be completed first, and then non-premium H-1B petition data entry will be started. All data entry should be completed sometime in May. Receipt notices for premium processing cases should be sent out first, then non-premium receipt notices and then finally the rejection notices for petitions not selected in the random lottery.

Remember, non-premium processing cases can only be converted to premium processing after a receipt notice has been issued.

Source of Information:

April 10, 2013

Alternatives to the H-1B Visa for Individuals who did not make the FY2014 H-1B Quota

by Kellie N. Lego

Now that all of the new H-1B visas for the 2014 Fiscal Year have been allocated, What options do Employers who are looking to hire Foreign National Professionals have?

Here are some creative solutions to this problem:

OPT – STEM Extension

April 8, 2013

FY 2014 H-1B Cap – Lottery Conducted 4/7/2013

by Kellie N. Lego

For the first time since 2008, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reached the statutory H-1B cap of 65,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2014 within the first week of the filing period. USCIS has also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption.

USCIS received approximately 124,000 H-1B petitions during the filing period, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption.

On April 7, 2013, USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process (commonly known as a “lottery”) to select a sufficient number of petitions needed to meet the caps of 65,000 for the general category and 20,000 under the advanced degree exemption limit. For cap-subject petitions not randomly selected, USCIS will reject and return the petition with filing fees, unless it is found to be a duplicate filing.

April 5, 2013

FY2014 – H1B CAP HAS BEEN REACHED

by Kellie N. Lego

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year (FY) 2014. USCIS has also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption.

After today, USCIS will not accept H-1B petitions subject to the FY 2014 cap or the advanced degree exemption.

March 28, 2013

Will premium processing increase the chances of making the H-1B quota?

by Kellie N. Lego

Filing an H-1B petition requesting premium processing will not increase the chances of obtaining an H-1B under the quota. If you request premium processing and the case is accepted for processing, the 15 day premium processing window will start on April 15, 2013, according to the USCIS press release issued 3/15/2013. Please note that one perceived benefit of filing a cap subject H-1B petition with a request for premium processing is that a receipt notice may be issued faster than if filed under regular processing. Therefore, the petitioner and beneficiary may confirm sooner that the petition has been chosen in the lottery.

Source of Information: AILA.org web site

View the links below for more detail on the subject: