Introduction: On December 3, 2018, USCIS-DHS, published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to change the H-1B filing and random selection (read lottery) process. The new process will require employer’s to electronically register to file each prospective petition for their H-1B employees during the designated “registration period”. Prospective employees with a U.S. masters or higher [...]
LCA and PERM Prevailing Wages Processing to Resume Tentatively at 2:00 p.m. EST on MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019 Last night, the DOL announced that: The iCERT system for application processing is tentatively scheduled to open at 2:00 p.m. EST on MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2019. The Department is currently testing the system to process a [...]
Updated January 3, 2019, 10:40 AM EST Within first five minutes of opening the semi-annual H-2B certification process on January 1, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor iCERT system had an unprecedented demand for H-2B certifications with more than 97,800 workers requested in pending applications for the 33,000 available visas. With more than thirty-times [...]
USCIS recently updated its website with information regarding the agency's practice of denying pending Form I-131 advance parole applications for abandonment due to international travel. Specifically, USCIS indicates on its website that if an applicant files Form I-131, Application for Travel Document, to request an advance parole document and departs the United States without possession [...]
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions to first electronically register with USCIS during a designated registration period. Under the proposed rule, USCIS would also reverse the order by which USCIS selects H-1B petitions under the H-1B cap and the [...]
The Department of Homeland Security is proposing to amend its regulations governing petitions filed on behalf of H-1B beneficiaries who may be counted toward the 65,000 visa cap established under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“H-1B regular cap”) or beneficiaries with advanced degrees from U.S. institutions of higher education who are eligible for an exemption from [...]
The new ETA Form 9035, LCA for Non-immigrant Workers is now available. We are aware of the change and have implemented appropriate changes to our processing.
USCIS announced that on 10/30/18, it transferred Form I-129, Petition for Non-immigrant Workers, for petitioners requesting H-1B non-immigrant classification from the CSC to the NSC.
DHS final rule is increasing the premium processing fee charged by USCIS. DHS is increasing the fee by 14.92 percent, from $1,225 to $1,410. This rule is effective on October 1, 2018. Applications postmarked on or after that date must include the new fee. https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-08-31/pdf/2018-19108.pdf
USCIS is extending the previously announced temporary suspension of premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions and, beginning Sept. 11, 2018, will be expanding this temporary suspension to include certain additional H-1B petitions. We expect these suspensions will last until Feb. 19, 2019, and will notify the public via uscis.gov before resuming premium processing for these petitions. While H-1B premium [...]