H-1B Visa

Recent certified LCA Forms missing Certifying Officer’s signature.

Monday, May 7th, 2012

Some recent certified LCA (ETA 9035) forms that are attached to iCERT e-mails have been missing the Certifying Officer’s signature.

The signature is a required element of the LCA and this can lead to rejection of the H-1B petition by USCIS if the Certifying Officer’s signature is missing.

Please carefully review the certified LCA that is included as an e-mail attachment from iCERT.

If the document be missing the required signature you can download the complete certified ETA 9035 directly from the iCERT portal.

Posted in H-1B Visa, Immigration


USCIS Entrepreneurs in Residence Tactical Team

Monday, April 16th, 2012

USCIS has partnered with business experts to improve the way they approach the employment-based and high-skilled visa categories used by immigrant entrepreneurs.

Director Alejandro Mayorkas kicked-off this innovative program, called the Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) initiative in February.

The EIR initiative consists of a tactical team comprised of outside experts working alongside USCIS employees.

For 90 days this collaborative team, comprised of both USCIS employees and entrepreneurs from the private sector, will identify opportunities where USCIS can streamline pathways for foreign entrepreneurs.

Posted in Employer Sponsored Green Card, H-1B Visa, Immigration, National Interest Waiver


H-1B Visa Quota Update

Saturday, April 14th, 2012

April 27, 2012

29,200 of the 65,000 H-1B regular cap-subject petitions were received by USCIS.

12,300 of the 20,000 H-1B petitions for foreign national beneficiaries with US Master Degrees were received by USCIS.

Posted in H-1B Visa, Immigration


H-1B Visa Processing times

Friday, December 16th, 2011

Processing times on the USCIS website are not always accurate, so we are listing actual processing times for our H-1B cases here.

Below are processing times for recent H-1B Visa cases filed in our office:

Case #: EAC1120851224

  • Date Filed with USCIS: 7/24/2011
  • Date received H-1B Approval: 12/15/2011
  • Time between Filing and Approval: 145 days

Case #: EAC1121151437

  • Date Filed with USCIS: 7/19/2011
  • Date received H-1B Approval: 12/6/2011
  • Time between Filing and Approval: 141 days

Case #: WAC1123350909

  • Date Filed with USCIS: 9/1/2011
  • Date received H-1B Approval: 12/6/2011
  • Time between Filing and Approval: 97 days

Case #: EAC1117751115

  • Date Filed with USCIS: 6/1/2011
  • Date received H-1B Approval: 11/28/2011
  • Time between Filing and Approval: 182 days

Case #: EAC1202151632

  • Date Filed with USCIS: 10/14/2011
  • Date received H-1B Approval: 11/28/2011
  • Time between Filing and Approval: 46 days

Case #: EAC1116452200

  • Date Filed with USCIS: 5/6/2011
  • Date received H-1B Approval: 11/28/2011
  • Time between Filing and Approval: 207 days

Case #: WAC1110450927

  • Date Filed with USCIS: 2/28/2011
  • Date received H-1B Approval: 11/22/2011
  • Time between Filing and Approval: 268 days

Case #: EAC1120151414

  • Date Filed with USCIS: 6/30/2011
  • Date received H-1B Approval: 11/10/2011
  • Time between Filing and Approval: 134 days

Case #: EAC1118552740

  • Date Filed with USCIS: 6/9/2011
  • Date received H-1B Approval: 11/8/2011
  • Time between Filing and Approval: 153 days

Case #: EAC1125950351

  • Date Filed with USCIS: 9/21/2011
  • Date received H-1B Approval: 11/7/2011
  • Time between Filing and Approval: 48 days

Case #: EAC1120351564

  • Date Filed with USCIS: 7/7/2011
  • Date received H-1B Approval: 11/7/2011
  • Time between Filing and Approval: 124 days

Case #: WAC1117151740

  • Date Filed with USCIS: 5/19/2011
  • Date received H-1B Approval: 11/1/2011
  • Time between Filing and Approval: 167 days

Case #: WAC1200751023

  • Date Filed with USCIS: 10/6/2011
  • Date H-1B Approval: 11/1/2011
  • Time between Filing and Approval: 27 days

Posted in H-1B Visa, Immigration


no lottery for H-1B petitions received on November 22

Friday, December 2nd, 2011

USCIS Service Center Operations has confirmed that November 22, 2011, was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012, and that all properly completed H-1B petitions that were accepted for filing on November 22 will be included in the FY 2012 cap.

There will be no lottery for petitions received on November 22.

Posted in H-1B Visa, Immigration


USCIS Reaches Fiscal Year 2012 H-1B Cap

Friday, November 25th, 2011

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Nov. 23, 2011 that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2012.

USCIS is notifying the public that Nov. 22, 2011, was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012.

Properly filed cases will be considered received on the date that USCIS physically receives the petition; not the date that the petition was postmarked.

USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012 that arrive after Nov. 22, 2011.

Posted in H-1B Visa, Immigration


AILA to USCIS: Original I-797s Must Go to Attorney of Record

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

USCIS has advised AILA Liaison that the change in processing of I-797 approval notices and the mailing of “courtesy copy” notices to the attorney of record is the result of a planned change in the CLAIMS III management system.

AILA Liaison has advised USCIS of the consequences of the processing change and has urged USCIS to return to the prior notification procedure immediately.

Posted in Employer Sponsored Green Card, H-1B Visa, Immigration


Employer Liability and Cancelling H-1B petitions

Thursday, July 28th, 2011

In a recent ruling, GANZE & COMPANY, the US DOL has stated that the employer must meet all three criteria below to avoid wage liability.

To avoid back pay liability of H-1B employee, the employer must:

  1. Notify USCIS of termination.
  2. Notify Employee of termination pursuant to State Law.
  3. Offer to Pay return fare.

Posted in H-1B Visa, Immigration


DOL Delays in Processing Prevailing Wage Determinations

Monday, July 25th, 2011

We received the following email message from the DOL regarding the delay in our Prevailing Wage Requests:

Thank you for your inquiry.

The NPWC is currently experiencing delays in processing prevailing wage determinations as it is working to reissue certain prevailing wage determinations to comply with a court order issued June 15, 2011 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. We continue to encourage all requestors to submit their ETA Form 9141 at least 60 days in advance of the employer’s initial recruitment efforts.

Thank You, NPWC

The June 15, 2011 court order stems from the August 30, 2010 decision in CATA v. Solis, where the district court ordered DOL to promulgate new H-2B prevailing wage regulations. AILA has contacted DOL for additional information on steps it is taking to comply with the court order, including how long it will take to reissue the H-2B wage determinations, and the short-/long-term impact of the order on prevailing wage processing times.

This delay has the unintended consequence of hurting applicants with time sensitive applications, specifically those in the 5th year of H-1B status and those approaching the start of of their 5th year in H-1B status. This is because applicants with a PERM case pending for 12 months are eligible to extend their H-1B status for 1 year beyond the normal 6 year period.

We hope that the DOL will catch up quickly and get back to the 21 days processing time that we were used to up until the end of May.

We will post updates as we receive them from DOL.

Posted in Employer Sponsored Green Card, H-1B Visa, Immigration


H-1B Cap Update 7-21-11

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

As of July 19, 2011, approximately 20,500 H-1B cap-subject petitions and 12,800 H-1B petitions for aliens with advanced degrees were receipted.

Posted in H-1B Visa, Immigration


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