When Immigration Matters

IMMIGRATION INNOVATION (I2) ACT OF 2013 

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 of 65,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2013. Yesterday, June 11, 2012, was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2013.

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

Well H-1B Season is almost upon us.  On April 1, 2012, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) starts accepting H-1B visa applications for the 2013 fiscal year (which starts on October 1, 2012).

 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 cap on Monday April 2, 2012. Cases will be considered accepted on the date that USCIS takes possession of a properly filed petition with the correct fee. USCIS will not rely upon the date that the petition is postmarked.

Employers using the H-1B category are required to make certain attestations in the DOL’s Form 9035, “Labor Condition Attestation” commonly referred to as the LCA.  Now the Department of State has created its own set of attestations for employees applying for an H-1B visa in Hyderabad, India. It seems the attestations are primarily aimed at IT consulting companies who typically place their employees at third-party sites.  These attestations consist of a sworn statement by the visa applicant acknowledging certain facts.

On April 1, 2012, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) starts accepting H-1B visa applications for the 2013 fiscal year (which starts on October 1, 2012).

Time is running out to file H-1B visas for this year.  United States Citizenship and Immigration (USCIS) announced that 50000 of 65000 allotted visas for the Fiscal Year have been used.  We estimate that the remaining 15000 will be used by mid-December at the latest. 

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.