We are slowing receiving the receipt notices and rejection notices for the H-1 petitions filed the first week of April. Fortunately almost all of our cases have been accepted to date, with several still unaccounted for, but that is not true for everyone. The question remains: if I am not selected for the H-1 lottery[…]
Attention Employers: On March, 8 2013, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a new version of the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9). All employers must use Form I-9 for each employee when hired in the United States. Form I-9 is used for verifying the identity and employment authorization of each new employee (both citizen[…]
Friday, April 5 – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the FY 2014 H-1B Cap was reached and they had received approximately 124,000 petitions during that filing period. On Sunday, April 7, USCIS announced they will use a random selection “lottery” process to allocate the 65,000 visas for the general category and 20,000 visas[…]
On April 2, 2013, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that it is eliminating the paper Form I-94 “Arrival/Departure Record upon arrival to the U.S. by air or sea”. The electronic rollout begins April 30 to allow for the collection of arrival/departure information electronically to streamline the arrival and inspection process for travelers. This[…]
USCIS announced the cap on H-1B petitions for FY 2014 is 85,000. USCIS will receive petitions under the “five-business-day” filing rule that ends on April 5, 2013 OR until it determines it has received more than the maximum allowed under the H-1B cap quota. USCIS will monitor the petitions received and notify the public when[…]
As of June 15, 2012, President Obama authorized the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). It applies to certain young people brought to the United States as children are eligible to request deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal, and may be eligible for employment authorization. For complete guidelines and[…]
In some situations a person may be in one nonimmigrant status and want to apply for another category. This is referred to as a Change of Status. In other situations, a person may want to remain in the United States in their current classification, but for a longer period then was authorized. This is referred[…]
The automatic spending cutback for all Federal government agencies went into effect as of March 1, 2013. The Department of State announced that the number of officers processing visa applications will be reduced and there may be significant delays in the visa adjudication process. Foreign nationals should anticipate the possibility of longer wait times when[…]
On April 1, 2013 we will begin filing the H-1 petitions for fiscal year 2013-2014. If approved, the H-1 status will start on October 1, 2013. There is a very good possibility that this year we will have more than 85,000 petitions filed on April 1, which will create a lottery as we have had[…]
USCIS announced as of Feb.1, an Immigrant Fee of $165 will be collected from foreign nationals seeking permanent residence in the U.S. There will be some exemptions: Orphan or Hague adoption programs, Iraqi and Afghan special immigrants, returning residents (SB-1s) For more, please see the following link: http://1.usa.gov/UVZLnN