Tag: H1-B visa

USCIS Temporarily Suspends Premium Processing for H-1B Petition

USCIS H1-B visa premium processingOn March 3, 2017, USCIS announced a temporary suspension of premium processing impacting all H-1B petitions received by USCIS beginning April 3, 2017.  The suspension will be in place for up to six months, supposedly to permit the agency to prioritize pending H-1B cases that are outside of their normal processing time and to reduce the backlog of pending H-1B cases filed in 2016.

The following case types will be impacted:

  • All H-1B petitions filed under the fiscal year 2018 H-1B cap;

  • All H-1B cap-exempt petitions; and

  • All non-cap H-1B extensions, all change of employer H-1B petitions, and all amended H-1B petitions.

The USCIS premium processing suspension does not impact a petitioner or beneficiary’s ability to request “expedited handling” of any kind of H-1B petition.  Such requests will be granted on a case-by-case discretionary basis, if the petitioner and/or beneficiary can establish severe financial loss to company or person, an emergency situation, a humanitarian situation, or governmental interest, amongst other criteria.

Please note that the premium processing program suspension applies only to H-1B filings.  Employers may continue to use the premium processing service for, among others, L-1, O-1, TN, and I-140 immigrant petition filings.

ARTICLE BY Katie P. Jacob & Gregory P. Adams of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP

© 2017 Dinsmore & Shohl LLP. All rights reserved.

FY 2018 H-1B Visa Season Has Started!

h1-b visa seasonPetitions for new H-1B visas are eligible to be filed on April 1, 2017, for federal FY 2018 beginning October 1, 2017. There are a limited number of new H-1B visas each year (65,000 and an additional 20,000 for foreign nationals with a U.S. Master’s degree or higher), which historically is used up within days of the start of the filing period. Last year, 236,000 applications were filed for the 85,000 slots. Now is the time to review your hiring needs.

Given the changing immigration landscape, you should also think about whether you want to file H-1B petitions for foreign students working on Optional Practical Training (OPT) and for employees working in TN or other treaty-based statuses who might be affected by upcoming changes and who you wish to retain.

There are considerable pre-filing requirements, so it is important to get started in order to meet the April 1st deadline.

ARTICLE BY Forrest G. Read IV of Jackson Lewis P.C.

Jackson Lewis P.C. © 2017

A Preview of Business Immigration in 2016: H-1B

From proposals to slash the H-1B cap to overhauling the EB-5 investor program, 2016 is already proving to be an interesting year for business immigration. In a series of posts, we will provide an overview of the cases, legislation, and regulations to look out for in the new year. In our first post we will discuss the H-1B visa and proposed reforms. 

A new wave of bills on Capitol Hill may lead to greater scrutiny of the H-1B program for high-skilled temporary workers in 2016. Since November, senators on both sides of the aisle have introduced legislation related to the visa category. One comes from Republican presidential candidate and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), who hopes to reform the program by creating a “layoff cool-off period” under which employers could not hire any H-1B workers within two years of layoffs, furloughs, or employee strikes. The “American Jobs First Act of 2015” would also end the Optional Practical Training program, which allows certain foreign students or graduates to temporarily work in the United States. Bill co-sponsor Senator Jeff Sessions, (R-AL), said the H-1B program has become a “backdoor method for replacing American workers.”

Senator Sessions, known as an immigration hardliner, also co-sponsored the “Protecting American Jobs Act” with Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) to reduce the annual cap on H-1B visas from 65,000 to 50,000. If more than 50,000 petitions are filed within a fiscal year, the bill would require DHS to prioritize workers with the highest wages. “This bill directly targets outsourcing companies that rely on lower-wage foreign workers to replace equally qualified U.S. workers,” stated Senator Nelson. His legislation directly opposes fellow Florida Senator and Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio’s earlier 2015 bill that would triple the H-1B cap to between 115,000 and 195,000 visas.

Another bipartisan effort comes from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), who recently introduced legislation that would greatly reform and increase enforcement of the H-1B program. Their bill would prohibit companies from hiring H-1B workers if they have more than 50 employees and over half are H-1B and L-1 visa holders.

Whether any of these bills will actually pass remains the biggest question for H-1Bs in 2016, particularly as certain bills—and legislators—oppose one another, both in the Senate and in presidential campaigns.

Article By Susan J. Cohen of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.

Parnia Zahedi assisted with this post.

©1994-2016 Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. All Rights Reserved.

It’s H-1B Season! Employers Urged to Begin Preparation of New H-1B Visa Petitions for April 1st Filing

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On April 1st each year, United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) begins accepting petitions from employers seeking to employ newH-1B workers during the next fiscal year. The number of available new H-1Bs is capped at 65,000 per fiscal year, with an additional 20,000 slots available to foreign nationals holding advanced degrees from U.S. institutions. This fixed number of H-1Bs available per fiscal year is known as the “H-1B cap.”

If, during the first five business days of April, USCIS receives more H-1B petitions than it is allowed to adjudicate, USCIS will randomly select H-1B petitions for adjudication among all of the petitions received during the five-day filing window. In 2014, USCIS received more than 172,000 petitions within the brief filing window; we anticipate that the number of petitions filed during this year’s five-day window will again exceed the H-1B cap. To ensure that H-1B petitions are included within the random selection process, we recommend that employers make hiring decisions for foreign national workers and job applicants as soon as possible and prepare to file petitions for new H-1B employment so that the petitions are received by USCIS on or about April 1, 2015.

In most cases, individuals who currently have H-1B status, whether with you or another employer, need not worry about the annual H-1B cap. However, other individuals, including those who are currently in F-1 (student) or J-1 (exchange visitor) status may need new H-1B petitions filed on their behalf in order to transition to H-1B employment and avoid gaps in employment authorization. Please note that the H-1B cap does not apply to employees of (i) colleges and universities; (ii) nonprofit organizations related to or affiliated with a nonprofit college or university; or (iii) nonprofit or governmental research organizations.

ARTICLE BY

Kelly M. Fortier
José A. Olivieri
Kelly R. Rourke
OF
Michael Best & Friedrich LLP