Proposed Rule to Extend Employment Authorization to Spouses of Certain H-1B Workers

Under existing regulations, DHS does not extend employment authorization to dependents (also known as H-4 nonimmigrants) of H-1B nonimmigrant workers. The change proposed by DHS, would allow H-4 dependent spouses of certain H-1B nonimmigrant workers to request employment authorization, as long as the H-1B worker has already started the process of seeking lawful permanent residence through employment.

Eligible individuals would include H-4 dependent spouses of principal H-1B workers who:

Arrival/Departure History Now Available

Customs and Border Protection launched a new webpage on May 1 that offers nonimmigrant U.S. visitors access to their I-94 arrival/departure record and their arrival/departure history.

The new CBP webpage allows nonimmigrant travelers to access arrival/departure records going back five years from the request date.

This electronic travel-history function means that travelers may no longer need to file Freedom of Information Act requests to receive their arrival/departure history, greatly speeding their process.

USCIS Revises Form, Application for Naturalization

USCIS released a revised Naturalization Form, Application for Naturalization. Through the Federal Register, USCIS received numerous comments from the public that helped inform this revision.

The revisions to Form provide USCIS with additional tools to make important eligibility determinations, present customers with clearer instructions, and incorporate technology that improves efficiency and accuracy for both USCIS and our customers. Although the form is now revised, the eligibility requirements for naturalization have not changed. 

USCIS received about 172,500 H-1B petitions For Fiscal Year 2015

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on April 7 that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 visas for fiscal year (FY) 2015. USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the advanced degree exemption.

USCIS received about 172,500 H-1B petitions during the filing period which began April 1, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption. On April 10, 2014, USCIS completed a computer-generated random selection process, or lottery, to select enough petitions to meet the 65,000 general-category cap and 20,000 cap under the advanced degree exemption.

USCIS Reaches FY 2015 H-1B Cap

USCIS received about 172,500 H-1B petitions during the filing period which began April 1, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption. 

USCIS Reaches FY 2015 H-1B Cap

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year (FY) 2015.  USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the U. S. advanced degree exemption.   

Before running a random selection process, USCIS will complete initial intake for all filings received during the filing period which ended today. Due to the high number of petitions, USCIS is not yet able to announce the date on which it will conduct the random selection process.

H-1B Visa (FY) 2015

USCIS announced today that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year (FY) 2015. 

USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the U. S. advanced degree exemption. 

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H-1B Visa 2015 Update

USCIS typically starts accepting applications for the next fiscal year starting from April 1st. So, the start date for accepting H1B Visa 2015 petitions would be April 1st, 2014, which is a Tuesday.  

The H1B Visa cap count stands as below:

§  Regular H1B Quota : 65,000

§  Masters H1B Quota : 20,000

§  It is to be noted that 6,800 visas every year are set aside for Singapore and Chile Free trade agreement filings, which is called as H1B1 program.

USCIS received about 124,000 petitions for a total of 85,000 visas last year for FY 2014.  We can expect a good amount of the 39,000 applicants, who were not selected in H1B 2014 lottery, to apply for this FY 2015 quota.