When Immigration Matters

Immigration attorney Karen-Lee Pollak explains how to work in the United States with an L-1 visa.

Immigration attorney Karen-Lee Pollak explains how to get a green card by investing in the United States. 

USCIS Receiving H-1B Visa Applications for Fiscal Year 2013 at an Accelerated Pace

A Florida judge issued a nationwide temporary injunction preventing the Department of Labor (DOL) from implementing the H-2B Visa program rule. Even though the ruling was issued in Florida, it applies nationwide. Congress has blocked the wage rule until September 30.

On August 3, 2011, USCIS joined with Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to outline new policies that that will help fuel the nation’s economy and stimulate investment by making it easier for high-skill immigrants and entrepreneurs to obtain visas to start and grow companies and create jobs here in the United States.

This is the second part of a four part series on immigrating to the United States that will be appearing in BusinessBrief Magazine. BusinessBrief is a South African business management Magazine that provides the decision makers in business with the information they need to make better business decisions.

As of April 15th, 2011, approximately 7100 H-1B cap-subject petitions were receipted.  Additionally, USCIS has receipted 5100 H-1B petitions for aliens with advanced degrees.

WHAT OTHER VISA OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE?

On April 1, 2011, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting H-1B applications for applicants starting professional employment on October 1, 2011 or later.  Although last year’s cap was only exhausted in January 2011, there is always the possibility that as the economy picks up, the H-1B cap could be met and exceeded well before January 2012.  Also remember that the H-1B Application must be filed with a certified Labor Condition Application.  The Department of Labor is currently taking 7 days to certify those applications where they have not asked for additional information. 

U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Such workers include scientists, engineers, and computer programmers, among others.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year (FY) 2011.  USCIS is notifying the public that yesterday, Jan. 26, 2011, is the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY2011.