In this issue:

- H-1B Nonimmigrant Application Season Opens for Fiscal Year 2013

- DOS Confirms China/India EB-2 Regression

- Colorado Grand Jury Indicts Long-Term Care Facility Operators on Immigration-Related Charges

- USCIS Proposes Revised Form I-9

- Houston Businesses Fined $2 Million for Hiring Undocumented Workers

- Social Media Affects Immigration Process

- Eighth Circuit Confirms Employer's Refusal to Support Immigration Applications Does Not Constitute National Origin or Citizenship Discrimination

- Putative Class Action Alleges That the Failure to Renew H-1B Visas Violated ERISA

- DOL Issues New H-2B Rules That Take Affect April 23, 2012

- Increased Enforcement Activity Against Fraud in the H-2B Program

- Global Entry Expands to Additional Pre-Clearance Airports

- DOS Will Increase Visa Processing Fees on April 13, 2012

- DOS Issues April 2012 Visa Bulletin

An excerpt from "H-1B Nonimmigrant Season Opens for Fiscal Year 2012"

As most H-1B employers know, there is an annual quota on the number of new H-1B petitions that can be approved each federal fiscal year. The quota is 65,000 for regular H-1B petitions, plus another 20,000 for H-1B petitions filed for foreign nationals ("FNs") who have obtained a master's degree or higher from an accredited American university. The federal government's fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30, so fiscal year 2013 will begin on October 1, 2012. Employers were eligible to start filing H-1B petitions toward the fiscal year 2013 quota on April 2, 2012, but they cannot secure a start date prior to October 1, 2012.