Category: H Visas

In another Obama administration effort to attract highly skilled workers, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed updating its regulations to include nonimmigrant high-skilled specialty occupation professionals from Chile and Singapore (H-1B1) and from Australia (E-3) in the list of classes of those authorized for employment incident to status with a specific employer, to… Read More

On April 28, 2014, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began premium processing for H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year 2015 cap, including H-1B petitions seeking an exemption from the cap for individuals who have earned a U.S. master’s degree or higher. The annual cap is 65,000 H-1B visas, with an exemption for the… Read More

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014, signed into law on January 17, 2014, includes a provision permitting the staggered entry of H-2B workers in the seafood industry under certain conditions. The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) released frequently asked questions (FAQ) clarifying the agency’s role with respect to implementation of the new provision. OFLC… Read More

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the fiscal year (FY) 2015 H-1B cap was reached as of April 7, 2014. The agency will reject and return with the filing fees non-duplicate cap-subject petitions that were not selected. USCIS received about 172,500 H-1B petitions during the filing period that began April 1, including petitions… Read More

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2015 cap starting on April 1, 2014. Cases will be considered accepted on the date that USCIS receives a properly filed petition with the correct fee. USCIS will not rely on the date that the petition is postmarked. The… Read More