The Wall Street Journal on October 30th reported that despite the current economic downtrend, H-1B visas continue to be available. Since 1990, when the H-1B program was implemented, companies of all sizes from Silicon Valley, Wall Street, and everyone else in between, have used this program to bring highly skilled foreign workers such as computer programmers from India or engineers from China to [...]

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Press Release recently containing additional guidance to certain employers who received a denial of Form I-129 (Petition for Non-Immigrant Worker) requesting H-1B classification for a beneficiary to practice in a health care specialty occupation before May 20, 2009. If the H-1B visa petition was denied only on the basis that the beneficiary didn’t [...]

The US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) reported today that as of their last count on June 5, 2009, approximately 44,400 H-1B visa petitions for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 have been received by USCIS and counted towards the 65,000 quota. The USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions until the number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the [...]

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced yesterday an update on the number of filings for H-1B petitions for the fiscal year 2010 program. USCIS has received approximately 45,000 H-1B petitions counting toward the Congressionally mandated 65,000 cap. We reported back on April 28, 2009 that there were 20,000 visas available.  Surprisingly, the number of applications received by [...]

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated the number of filings for H-1B petitions for the fiscal year 2010 program. The total applications filed as of April 26, 2009 is 45,000, which is 20,000 short of the H-1B Cap. The USCIS has received 20,000 petitions for applicants with advanced degrees, known as the H-1B Masters Cap.  USCIS will, however, continue [...]

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced yesterday that it has received approximately 44,000 H-1B petitions towards the Congressionally mandated 65,000 cap. The USCIS will continue to accept petitions subject to the general cap. Historically, the general H-1B visa cap has been reached within the first one to two days of the application period.  However, last year, the USCIS kept [...]

The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC), a component of the U.S. Department of Labor, announced earlier this month the implementation of a new “one-stop visa portal system” called the iCERT System, to improve employer access to employment-based visa and green card services. Beginning April 15, 2009, employers or their authorized representatives will be able to register with [...]

Before an employer files a petition for an H-1B visa for a prospective employee it is important that certain rules are followed to minimize the chances of rejection by the USCIS. Below is a list of five do’s and don’ts that a petitioning employer should take into consideration when submitting an H-1B visa petition. Do’s Ensure that all questions on the application Form [...]

The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) says that during the initial filing window for H-1B’s it has has received less than half the number of petitions needed to reach the 65,000 H-1B cap. Charles H. Kuck, President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) commented on the decrease in applications:  This indicates that H-1B filings really [...]

The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) issued an update a few minutes ago that it will continue to accept H-1B visa petitions for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010. It seems that the USCIS hasn’t received the requisite number of petitions to meet the congressionally mandated caps of 65,000 applications under the regular cap, and 20,000 for [...]