H1B Visa Lawyer BlogAdministrative Appeals Office (AAO) Processing Times were released with processing dates as of July 2, 2013.
If you filed an appeal, please review the link below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.
Articles Posted in nonimmigrant visas
H-2B Cap Count UPDATE – 7/8/13
The H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs.
The H-2B cap limit for the second half of FY 2013 (April 1 – September 30) is 33,000. As of the last count (7/5/13); 25,064 beneficiaries have been approved and 1,760 are pending for a total of 26,824.
The H-2B cap limit for first half of FY 2014 (October 1 – March 31) is 33,000. As of the last count (7/5/2013); 0 beneficiaries have been approved and 371 are pending for a total of 371.
H-2B Cap Count UPDATE – 6/3/13
The H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs.
The H-2B cap limit for first half of FY 2013 (October 1 – March 31) is 33,000. As of the last count (3/31/2013); *43,089 beneficiaries have been approved and 174 are still pending for a total of *43,263.
The H-2B cap limit for the second half of FY 2013 (April 1 – September 30) is 33,000. As of the last count (5/31/13); 22,393 beneficiaries have been approved and 2,314 are pending for a total of 24,707.
H-2B Cap Count UPDATE – 5/28/13
The H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs.
The H-2B cap limit for first half of FY 2013 (October 1 – March 31) is 33,000. As of the last count (3/31/2013); *43,089 beneficiaries have been approved and 174 are still pending for a total of *43,263.
The H-2B cap limit for the second half of FY 2013 (April 1 – September 30) is 33,000. As of the last count (5/24/2013); 21,406 beneficiaries have been approved and 2,281 are pending for a total of 23,687.
Updated Service Center Processing Times
Processing Time reports for all of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Service Centers were released on 5/21/13 with processing dates as of 3/31/13.
If you filed a petition with one of the Service Centers, please review the links below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.
H-2B Cap Count UPDATE – 4/23/13
The H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs.
The H-2B cap limit for first half of FY 2013 (October 1 – March 31) is 33,000. As of the last count (3/15/2013); *43,089 beneficiaries have been approved and 174 are still pending for a total of *43,263.
The H-2B cap limit for the second half of FY 2013 (April 1 – September 30) is 33,000. As of the last count (4/19/2013); 14,713 beneficiaries have been approved and 6,867 are pending for a total of 21,580.
Update on FY2014 H-1B Cap Cases
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has started the data entry of H-1B petitions selected during the April 7th random lottery. On April 12, 2013, Donald Neufeld, USCIS Associate Director of the Service Center Operations told the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) that data entry for premium processing will be completed first, and then non-premium H-1B petition data entry will be started. All data entry should be completed sometime in May. Receipt notices for premium processing cases should be sent out first, then non-premium receipt notices and then finally the rejection notices for petitions not selected in the random lottery.
Remember, non-premium processing cases can only be converted to premium processing after a receipt notice has been issued.
Source of Information:
OFLC’s Updated Factsheets, Second Quarter FY2013
The U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has released updated factsheets containing Second Quarter FY2013 selected program statistics. These factsheets contain vision representations of the data by using graphs and tables, which makes them much easier to read and understand. I have provided the links to the five updated factsheets below for your review.
Alternatives to the H-1B Visa for Individuals who did not make the FY2014 H-1B Quota
Now that all of the new H-1B visas for the 2014 Fiscal Year have been allocated, What options do Employers who are looking to hire Foreign National Professionals have?
Here are some creative solutions to this problem:
OPT – STEM Extension
FY 2014 H-1B Cap – Lottery Conducted 4/7/2013
For the first time since 2008, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reached the statutory H-1B cap of 65,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2014 within the first week of the filing period. USCIS has also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption.
USCIS received approximately 124,000 H-1B petitions during the filing period, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption.
On April 7, 2013, USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process (commonly known as a “lottery”) to select a sufficient number of petitions needed to meet the caps of 65,000 for the general category and 20,000 under the advanced degree exemption limit. For cap-subject petitions not randomly selected, USCIS will reject and return the petition with filing fees, unless it is found to be a duplicate filing.