USCIS Will Begin FY2016 H-1B Cap Premium Processing on 4/27/2015
On April 14, 2015, the USCIS announced that it will begin adjudication of premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions on 4/27/2015 and the 15-day processing period will begin on that date, regardless of the date on the Form I-797 Receipt Notice. For more information, please click here.
Read MoreUSCIS Completes H-1B Cap Lottery for FY216
On April 13, 2015, USCIS announced that it finished the computer-generated random selection process, or lottery, to select petitions to meet the FY2016 cap. USCIS stated it will begin premium processing for H-1B cap cases no later than May 11, 2015. USCIS noted that it received nearly 233,000 H-1B petitions during the FY2016 filing period. Please see announcement here. USCIS will begin to issue filing receipts to employers whose petitions were chosen. Premium processing receipts will come first by email, and could begin in as soon as a few days. Receipts for non-premium cases should begin in...
Read MoreUSCIS Alert: FY2016 H-1B Cap Reached
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on April 7, 2015 that it received enough H-1B cap-subject petitions to reach the cap for FY2016. USCIS will complete initial intake before it conducts the lottery, but due to the high number of petitions, it is not yet able to announce when the lottery will occur. Cases not selected in the lottery will be rejected and returned along with their filing fees. For petitions filed under Premium Processing, USCIS had previously announce it expects to initiate processing of petitions selected in the H-1B lottery by May 11, 2015. For...
Read MoreNew L-1B, Specialized Knowledge Guidance Issued by USCIS on 3/24/2015
On March 24, 2015, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued new guidance that addresses the specialized knowledge standard. The policy memorandum consolidates previous guidance and provides updated guidance to USCIS officers in adjudicating petitions filed by employers seeking to transfer employees to the United States. Employees who work in any industry and serve in any type of position may be classified as L-1B nonimmigrants, so long as the position described in the L-1B petition requires specialized knowledge. For more information, please click here.
Read MoreDiversity Visa (Green Card) Lottery 2013 Application Period Open from 10/04/2011 to 11/05/2011
The Department of State announced the opening of the registration period for the DV-2013 Diversity Visa lottery (also known as “green card lottery”). Entries for the DV-2013 Diversity Visa lottery must be submitted electronically between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4),Tuesday, October 4, 2011, and noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5), Saturday, November 5, 2011. Applicants may access the electronic Diversity Visa entryform (E-DV) at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period. Paper entries will not be accepted. Applicants are strongly encouraged not to wait until...
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