Law Brief: H-1B Visas – New Process and New (Upcoming) Deadlines
Benesch B-Cast 07: Immigration Deadlines and Demands Employers Need to Know
With the second round of the H-1B cap lottery just completed, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has now released statistics for this year’s H-1B cap selections as well as statistics on H-1B...more
On Tuesday, July 30, 2024, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will conduct a second H-1B cap lottery. The agency will select an additional number of H-1B registrations from the remaining...more
Q: Will submitting my registration on the first day increase my odds of selection? A: No. The lottery is conducted randomly after the registration period closes. Your odds for selection will increase with a US master’s or...more
The H-1B visa is among the most popular working visas in the U.S. for individuals filling professional (degree-requiring) positions. Most H-1B visas are subject to an annual quota or “cap.” These are often referred to as...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced March 29, 2022 that it had completed its H-1B random lottery selections after receiving sufficient submissions for its annual H-1B quota during the H-1B...more
Nearly one million lawfully present foreign workers are currently waiting to receive lawful permanent residence status (green card). This backlog is primarily caused by statutorily imposed numerical limits that cap the number...more
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
Last week, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it had completed pilot testing of its new electronic registration tool and would implement it for the H-1B cap season in 2020. The new electronic...more
On May 20, 2019, USCIS will begin premium processing for cap-subject H-1B cases that were filed concurrently with Form I-907 premium processing requests. Under the Premium Processing Service, USCIS guarantees 15-calendar-day...more
It is the equivalent of the NCAA March Madness for H-1B petitioners and beneficiaries. The fiscal year (FY) 2020 H-1B cap season is officially in full swing....more
On March 19, USCIS made a surprise announcement - it will be phasing in a new two-tiered premium processing procedure and establishing a new H-1B data hub on its website. On April 1, USCIS will commence accepting cap-subject...more
Outlook for This Week in the Nation's Capital - Partial Government Shutdown Grinds into 5th Week: The effects of the partial shutdown continue to grow in Washington and elsewhere with Federal contractors and civil servants...more
USCIS Proposes New Registration Requirement to File H-1B Cap Petitions for Fiscal Year 2020 and Reverses Order of H-1B Cap Lottery - On December 3, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USICS”) proposed new...more
In recent weeks, several notable policy changes have taken place concerning the adjudication of immigration petitions by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)....more
With the increased focus on foreign language programs — particularly the popularity of immersion programs in which the foreign language is used for instruction rather than as the subject of instruction—schools districts are...more
On May 3rd, USCIS completed all data entry of fiscal year 2018 H-1B cap-subject petitions selected in the computer-generated "lottery" process. The data entry process includes the receipt of petitions selected in the lottery...more
The USCIS received over 236,000 H-1B petitions during this year’s FY2017 filing period for the annual supply of 85,000 new H-1B visas (65,000 for regular cap plus an additional 20,000 for workers with a U.S. Master’s degree)....more
On April 12, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that it had received more than 236,000 H-1B petitions subject to the quota for fiscal year 2017 (i.e., 65,000 for regular H-1B petitions,...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: USCIS completes the lottery process and receives more than 236,000 H-1B cap petitions. On April 12, 2016, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it received more...more
Prospects for passage of any H-1B reform legislation remain low in this politically charged election year....more
A foreign national qualifies for H-1B status if he/she holds at least a U.S. Bachelor's Degree (or equivalent) relevant to the field in which he/she will be working, and the position normally requires at least a Bachelor's...more
On February 5, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) issued an alert reminding employers to identify “returning workers” when filing H-2B petitions for non-immigrant workers....more
This is a quick reminder that employers should prepare now if they plan to file H-1B petitions on April 1, 2016 for the fiscal year commencing October 1, 2016. It is expected that the demand for H-1Bs will be very strong once...more
H-1B Cap season is approaching, and, with a similar flurry to file petitions for eligible specialized knowledge workers expected for April 1 as we experienced in 2015, H-1B employers should carefully consider the obligations...more
USCIS to accept new H-1B filings beginning April 1, 2016. Filing by April 7th will be critical: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will start accepting filings of new H-1B petitions on April 1st for the fiscal year...more