H-1B Work Visa
Multiple H-1B Cap Petitions for Same Beneficiary
In matters of multiple H-1B petitions filed for the same beneficiary, last month the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) ruled, in a non-precedent decision, that “related entities” shall be interpreted beyond legal relations. Although the decision is not legally binding for USCIS, the case indicates that USCIS intends to crack down on petitioners attempting to beat…
Read MoreGOP Bill Could Expand H-1B Quota
Late last month, Republican Senator Orrin Hatch introduced Senate Bill 2344, or the Immigration Innovation Bill of 2018. If passed, the bill would expand the H-1B cap to nearly 195,000 professional workers annually. Provisions The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Hatch proposes an increase to the H-1B visa cap from 65,000 to 85,000. Hatch’s…
Read MoreH-1B Cap Exemptions for Physicians: J-1 Home Residency
Last year in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, the USCIS received enough petition towards H-1B visa lottery to satisfy the statutory cap of 65,000 as well as the advanced-degree exemption of 20,000 in less than five days. For petitioning employers that did not submit petitions before April 7th, 2017 or those who were unable to make…
Read MorePublic Charges Must Go: Changes to FAM
While the debate over immigration continues in Washington, a lot of questions have emerged regarding “public charge” non-citizens. Last week, the White House released proposed guidance for DACA recipients in which “Status is subject to revocation for criminal conduct or public safety and national security concerns, public charge, fraud, etc.” The announcement comes in addition…
Read MoreShort Term Placement or Assignment: Peripatetic Jobs and H- 1B Regulation Compliance
For highly skilled H-1B workers, travel to another worksite may be intrinsic part of their job profile. Especially in Information Technology (IT), certain jobs require H-1B workers to visits client worksites for extended periods of time. Under the regulations, employers that send H-1B employees to a worksite location not specified in H-1B petition must file…
Read MoreTravel during Administrative Processing
If your visa application is held by a consulate office for administrative processing, your case could be delayed for up to 60 days. Typically, the US consulate reviewing an application in administrative processing will not reveal the estimated period of delay nor will a consular officer reveal the reasons for the delay. For those with…
Read MoreNo Procedural Changes for Upcoming H-1B Cap Season (No Pre-Registration for now)
The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration (USCIS) has confirmed to American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) that it is not implementing any procedural changes to this year’s H-1B cap season which begins on April 1, 2018. Just as in the past, the rumors mills were abuzz with news that USCIS is planning to implement some form of…
Read MoreOptions if Petition Approval is not in the PIMS
Prior to the issuance of an H, L, O, P or Q visa, a US consular officer must verify that a petition approval is legitimate through the Consular Consolidated Database (CCD) in a “PIMS” report. According to the US State Department, the CCD is a “data warehouse that holds current and archived data from the…
Read MoreGovernment Shutdown: What it means for your visa application
In the early morning of January 20th, officials in Congress and the White House announced that the federal government would shut down. The shutdown came after the Senate failed to pass legislation approving federal spending for the next year. To enable the operations of the federal government, including major bureaucratic agencies like the Department of…
Read MoreBuilding Walls: Canadian Immigration in Trump Era (BAHA)
Over the last couple of days, news of President Trump’s disparaging comments about immigration from Caribbean and African nations has swept through the country. The justified outrage over the racist comments follows a year of anti-immigration sentiments from the executive and members of the Republican Party. Although the Trump Administration failed largely over the last…
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