The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) reported last week that it has issued additional guidance for businesses who received funding under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in connection with their application to petition potential employees for an H-1B visa. Recipients of TARP funding are automatically deemed an H-1B dependent employer.   As such, those businesses are [...]

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services  (USCIS) has announced that it will accept H-1B petitions filed without Labor Condition Applications (LCA’s) that have been certified by the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) for a period of 120 days (4 months). The temporary change in policy is due to the USCIS having received requests from the public to accept H-1B petition filings that include [...]

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 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 [...]