Employers who employ H-1B, L-1, R-1 foreign nationals, or are pursuing EB-5 immigrant investor program visas should prepare for the likelihood of an unannounced site visit by the government. The USCIS Fraud Detection and...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has completed the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) H-1B lottery for both regular H-1B cap beneficiaries, as well as advanced degree (master’s) cap beneficiaries. Those registrants who...more
On February 5, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the initial registration period for the FY2026 H-1B Cap Lottery will open at noon Eastern Time (EST) on March 7, 2025, and run through noon...more
2/11/2025
/ Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Policies ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Lottery ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
On January 30, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the initial registration period for the FY2025 H-1B Cap Lottery will open at noon Eastern Time (EST) on March 6, 2024, and run through noon...more
The Department of State announced last month that it would unveil a domestic visa renewal pilot program for some H-1B holders. Currently, all visa holders are required to travel to consulates abroad to renew the visa stamps...more
The State Department (DOS) recently announced a new pilot program for H-1B visa holders, allowing them to renew their H-1B visa stamps while remaining in the United States. Currently, H-1B visa holders must apply at a U.S....more
On March 27, 2023, USCIS received enough electronic registrations during the initial registration period to reach the FY 2024 H-1B numerical allocations (H-1B cap), including the advanced degree exemption, also known as the...more
On Monday, March 27, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the agency received enough electronic registrations during the initial registration period to reach the fiscal year (FY) 2024 H-1B...more
On Friday, January 27, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the initial registration period for the FY2024 H-1B Cap Lottery will begin on March 1, 2023. The initial registration will open at...more
On August 23, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B...more
On Tuesday, March 29, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USICS) announced that it had received enough electronic registrations during the initial registration period to reach the fiscal year (FY) 2023 H-1B...more
On Friday, January 28, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the initial registration period for the FY2023 H-1B Cap Lottery will begin on March 1, 2022. The initial registration will open at...more
On Friday, February 5, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the initial registration period for the FY2022 H-1B Cap Lottery will begin on March 9, 2021. ...more
2/9/2021
/ E-2 ,
F-1 Visa ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 Visas ,
OPT ,
USCIS ,
Visa Caps ,
Visas
Two Interim Final Rules (IFRs) are to be published on Thursday, October 8, 2020 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The DHS “Strengthening the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa...more
10/9/2020
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
E-3 ,
H-1B ,
H-1B1 ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
PERM ,
Specialty Occupations ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
On August 3, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) issued a Final Rule that alters the USCIS filing Fee Schedule. On average, the filing fees were increased overall by approximately 20%....more
9/9/2020
/ Filing Fees ,
Foreign Workers ,
Form I-140 Petitions ,
Form I-765 ,
H-1B ,
I-129 ,
I-485 Applications ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
L-1 Visas ,
Naturalization ,
Required Forms ,
USCIS ,
Visas
I have an appointment at the local USCIS office. What should I do? All USCIS offices have been closed to the public at least until June 4, 2020. USCIS is preparing to reopen its offices on or after June 4, 2020. USCIS will...more
7/4/2020
/ Administrative Hearings ,
Administrative Procedure ,
Consulate ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Court Closures ,
E-3 ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Furloughs ,
H-1B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
L-1 Visas ,
Layoffs ,
O-1 Aliens of Extraordinary Ability ,
Popular ,
USCIS ,
Visa Waiver Program ,
Visas
On June 22, 2020, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation continuing Proclamation 10014 of April 22, 2020, and suspending and limiting the entry of any individual seeking entry into the U.S. in any of the following...more
6/24/2020
/ Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
H-2B ,
Immigrants ,
Immigration Procedures ,
J-1 Visas ,
L-1 Visas ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Trump Administration ,
Visas
USCIS announced on March 17, 2020, the temporary suspension of premium processing service for fiscal year (FY) 2021 cap-subject H-1B petitions. Once USCIS begins accepting cap-subject petitions on April 1, we will not be able...more
On December 6, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it successfully completed the pilot testing for its online registration system that will be implemented in the 2020 H-1B lottery. This will...more
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will increase the premium processing fee charged by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from $1,225 to $1,410, effective October 1, 2018. As employers are aware, USCIS is...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Tuesday, August 28, 2018, that the previously announced temporary suspension of premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions will continue and be expanded....more
USCIS announced on March 20, 2018, that it will temporarily suspend premium processing for all FY2019 H-1B cap-subject petitions, including petitions seeking an exemption for individuals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher....more
Monday, April 2, 2018, is just around the corner and begins the FY2019 H-1B cap filing season. Employers are urged to begin now to prepare for filing H-1B petitions subject to the cap. As reported earlier this week, due to...more
USCIS announced that premium processing has been reinstated for all H-1B petitions. Effective October 3, 2017, employers may request to upgrade pending H-1B petitions to premium processing. Suspension of premium processing...more
USCIS announced on Monday, September 18, 2017, that it will immediately accept premium processing requests of all H-1B visa petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 cap. H-1B cap petitions filed in April 2017,...more