NEWS
H-1B
USCIS to Publish Revised Form I-539 and New Form I-539A
USCIS has revised Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status and will publish the revised form on their website on March 11, 2019. Beginning March 11, 2019, USCIS will only accept the revised Form I-539 with an edition date of 02/04/19. They will reject any Form I-539 with an edition date of 12/23/16 [...]
H-1B CAP 2019 – Are You Ready?
Join us for a free webinar on February 22, 2019 12pm-1pm EST. Register Now The idea behind this webinar is to harness the valuable experience learned from processing H-1Bs from prior years and how various RFEs have created a valuable source of information on what the USCIS is looking for and how to [...]
DHS Announces Final Rule for a More Effective and Efficient H-1B Visa Program
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted today for public inspection, a final rule amending regulations governing H-1B cap-subject petitions, including those that may be eligible for the advanced degree exemption. The final rule reverses the order by which USCIS selects H-1B petitions under the H-1B regular cap and the advanced degree exemption, [...]
DHS Proposes Changes to the H-1B Visa Lottery Process
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has completed review of the H-1B proposed regulation as of January 25, 2019. It must be published in the Federal Register before the rule can go into effect. We will post any updates as soon as we receive them.
USCIS Resumes Premium Processing for Fiscal Year 2019 H-1B Cap Petitions
Alert: USCIS will resume premium processing on Monday, Jan. 28 for all fiscal year (FY) 2019 H-1B cap petitions, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption (the “master’s cap”). The previously announced temporary suspension of premium processing remains in effect for all other categories of H-1B petitions to which it applied. We [...]
H-1B CAP & USCIS’ New Registration Process – What You Need to Know!
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 [...]
ALERT – LCA system Down
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 [...]
ALERT – LCA system Down – iCERT Portal System is currently unavailable
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 [...]
Update on USCIS Practice of Denying Pending Forms I-131 for Abandonment Due to International Travel
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 [...]
DHS Proposes Merit-Based Rule for More Effective and Efficient H-1B Visa Program
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 [...]
Registration Requirement for Petitioners Seeking To File H-1B Petitions on Behalf of Cap-Subject Aliens
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 [...]
New ETA Form 9035
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 Announces Workload Transfer of Certain H-1B Petitions from CSC to NSC
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 Increasing the Premium Processing Fee
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 Extends and Expands Suspension of Premium Processing for H-1B Petitions to Reduce Delays
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 [...]
USCIS No Longer Accepting I-765 Service Requests at the 75-Day Mark
AILA has received member reports that the USCIS Contact Center (formerly National Customer Service Center, or NCSC) is no longer allowing individuals to place service requests for Forms I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, that have been pending for more than 75 days unless the applications are outside of USCIS's posted processing times. Previously, [...]
USCIS Completes Data Entry of Fiscal Year 2019 H-1B Cap Subject Petitions
USCIS has completed data entry for all fiscal year 2019 H-1B cap-subject petitions selected in their computer-generated random selection process. USCIS will now begin returning all H-1B cap-subject petitions that were not selected. Due to the high volume of filings, they cannot provide a definite time frame for returning unselected petitions.Additionally, USCIS may [...]
Extending OPT beyond the initial period and When to Apply for STEM OPT
CAP Gap Employment: The USCIS has clarified that F-1 nonimmigrant students with degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) may apply for a 24-month extension of their post-completion OPT employment authorization. An F-1 student who is the beneficiary of an H-1B petition and request for change of status that is filed on time may [...]
USCIS Completes the H-1B Cap Random Selection Process for FY 2019
On April 11, USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process to select enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally-mandated cap and the U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for FY 2019. USCIS received 190,098 H-1B petitions during the filing period, which began April 2, including petitions filed for the advanced [...]