H1B Visa Lawyer BlogAdministrative Appeals Office (AAO) Processing Times were released with processing dates as of April 2, 2013.
If you filed an appeal, please review the link below to determine the applicable processing time associated with your particular case.
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.
Hearing on Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation – April 17
**The hearing date has been re-scheduled for April 19th at 10:00am (EST).
Senator Leahy, the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman has announced that a full committee hearing on comprehensive immigration reform has been scheduled for April 17th. The Senate hearing will be held at Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. This hearing is a result of the proposed legislation being worked on by the bipartisan “Gang of Eight”. The only witness listed to testify at this initial hearing is Secretary Janet Napolitano, Department of Homeland Security.
MVP Law Group would like our blog readers to email us with your own questions or comments about Comprehensive Immigration Reform. We may include them in future blog posts on the subject! Remember, MVP Law Group always invites Immigration related questions for our bimonthly Immigration Q&A Forum!
Visa Bulletin – May 2013
The Department of State has released its latest Visa Bulletin.
Click here to view the May 2013 Visa Bulletin.
The May 2013 Visa Bulletin shows employment based second preference (EB-2) and employment based third preference (EB-3) as both being oversubscribed. EB-2 is current for all chargeability areas except those listed.
MVP LAW GROUP – Immigration Q&A Forum, Friday, April 12, 2013
MVP Law Group, P.A. makes available the information and materials in this forum for informational purposes only. The information is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice or any contractual obligations. Further, the use of this site, and the sending or receipt of this information, does not create an attorney-client relationship between us. Therefore, your communication with us through this forum will not be considered as privileged or confidential.
Question #1 – H-1B Nonimmigrant Work Visa
I just heard the H-1B cap has been reached and they are doing a lottery. How does the H-1B Lottery work?
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
DHS Annual Report – FY2012 Statistics on Naturalizations
Naturalization is the process by which U.S. citizenship is granted to foreign citizens or nationals after fulfilling the requirements established by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). After naturalization, foreign-born citizens enjoy nearly all the same benefits, rights and responsibilities that the Constitution gives to native-born U.S. citizens, including the right to vote.
The Office of Immigration Statistics Annual Flow Report presents information on the number and characteristics of foreign nationals aged 18 years and over who were naturalized during FY 2012.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report states that in FY2012 a total of 757,434 persons were naturalized. The leading countries of birth of new naturalized citizens were Mexico (102,181), the Philippines (44,958), India (42,928), the Dominican Republic (33,351), and China (31,868). The largest number of persons naturalized lived in the states of California (158,850), Florida (100,890), and New York (93,584). Read the report linked here for more details, “U.S. Naturalizations: 2012“.
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.
MVP “Immigration Q & A Forum” – This Friday, April 12, 2013
We wanted to find a new way to engage our reader base. Every other Friday, we will post the ten (10) best/most frequently asked questions received during the week from our h1bvisalawyerblog, Facebook, and Twitter readers. We will answer those questions and provide the Q&A on our H-1B Visa Lawyer Blog.
If you have a burning question, are seeking assistance with a difficult immigration related case, wish to discuss your views on Comprehensive Immigration Reform, DREAMers, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, priority dates, the monthly visa bulletin, adjustment applications, etc., please contact us by submitting your question/comment/viewpoint in our comment box provided on our H-1B Visa Lawyer Blog.
Our next “Q & A Forum” will take place this Friday, April 12, 2013. Act now and submit your questions!