When Immigration Matters

Today May , 2014, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced the publication of two proposed rules, including a rule to extend employment authorization to spouses of certain H-1B workers, and a proposal to enhance opportunities for certain groups of highly-skilled workers by removing obstacles to their remaining in the United States. It is hoped that Together these actions will help attract new businesses and new investment to the U.S. and ensure that the U.S. has the most skilled workforce in the world.

USCIS announced on April 7 that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 visas for fiscal year (FY) 2015. USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the advanced degree exemption.

On April 1, 2013, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) begins accepting H1-B visa applications for the 2014 fiscal year (which starts on October 1, 2013).   In 2008, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received approximately 163,000 petitions during the five-day filing period and conducted a random lottery to select the 65,000 petitions that would be eligible for processing.  In 2007, the USCIS reached its H-1B visa quota in one day.  Due to the slump in the economy, last year all H-1B visas were not taken until the end of June 2012.   While we cannot predict how quickly these visas will be taken, since the economy has picked up, we guesstimate that the cap will be reached well before June 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.

 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.