USCIS received 190,098 H-1B petitions

On April 11, USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process to select enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally-mandated cap and the U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for fiscal year (FY) 2019.

USCIS received 190,098 H-1B petitions during the filing period, which began April 2, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption. USCIS announced on April 6, that it had received enough H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 and the master’s cap of 20,000. USCIS will reject and return all unselected petitions with their filing fees unless the petition is a prohibited multiple filing.

USCIS conducted the selection process for the master’s cap first. All unselected master’s cap petitions then became part of the random selection process for the 65,000 cap.

Third-Party Worksite H-1B Petitions

The H-1B visa program generally allows a foreign employee to work for a specific sponsoring American employer. As is true in many employment situations, the location of work can change.

USCIS has published a policy memorandum making clear that USCIS may request detailed documentation to ensure a legitimate employer-employee relationship is maintained while an employee is working at a third-party worksite. In publishing this policy, USCIS clarifies existing regulatory requirements relating to H-1B petitions filed for workers who will be employed at one or more third-party worksites.

H1B Visa (FY-2019)

While many regulations like increasing the H1B wage to 130K USD, Pre-registration of petitions and picking them by salary offered & qualification, increasing H1B cap, etc. have been discussed extensively and either part of the current H1B bills that are in process or Fall 2017 Regulatory agenda, none of these will be implemented for the H1B 2019 season.

How many H-1B Visas are available for the FY-2019 Quota?

58,200 (65,000 minus 6,800 taken out for Chile and Singapore H-1Bs) H-1B Visas are available per year in the Bachelor’s degrees quota.

20,000 H-1B Visas are available per year in the U.S. Master’s degrees quota.

Diversity Green Card Visa (DV) Lottery

The DV Lottery program offers a lottery for up to 50,000 immigrant visas annually, “drawn from random selection among all entries to individuals who are from countries with low rates of immigration” to the U.S., according to U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services.

That random selection, according to the State Department, is through a computer-generated drawing for foreign nationals to apply for permanent residence, or a green card, in the U.S. each year.

President Trump has called for its elimination, and the termination of chain migration, which happens when immigrants can enter the country, simply to be united with a relative already living in the U.S.

U.S. Naturalization Application Fee

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offers a full fee waiver and a partial fee waiver.

USCIS will waive the full naturalization filing fee of $680 ($595 for applicants age 75 or older) if you are receiving income-based public assistance. Don’t put off becoming a U.S. citizen. Naturalizing is your best protection against restrictive changes in our immigration laws.

USCIS is challenging an unusually large number of H-1B applications

Starting this summer, employers began noticing that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was challenging an unusually large number of H-1B applications. Cases that would have sailed through the approval process in earlier years ground to a halt under requests for new paperwork. The number of challenges — officially known as “requests for evidence” or RFEs — are up 44 percent compared to last year, according to statistics from USCIS. The percentage of H-1B applications that have resulted in RFEs this year are at the highest level they’ve been since 2009, and by absolute number are considerably higher than any year for which the agency provided statistics.

In the meantime, the uncertainly alone is taking a toll on those who rely on the visas to work. Some applicants whose cases remained unresolved by Oct. 1, the annual effective date for new visas, have been sent home from their jobs. After the recent terrorist attack in New York, Trump called for the elimination of another visa lottery program – the Diversity Visa Lottery – saying immigration should be merit-based.

More Scrutiny on L-1B Visa Extensions

The Trump administration is escalating scrutiny for extension of L1B applications to the same level as new applications to fit into the larger theme of protecting American workers which cuts to the heart of Trump's appeal and his rise to power in the US. 

The updated guidance makes it clear that extensions will not happen by default. The burden of proof falls entirely on the petitioner. With every additional move, the USCIS is basically sending strong and repeated signals that the difficulty level of coming through the H1B/ L1 route and then staying in the US on the same visa is unlike at any other time in the history of these work visas.

“The updated guidance instructs officers to apply the same level of scrutiny when reviewing nonimmigrant visa extension requests even where the petitioner, beneficiary and underlying facts are unchanged from a previously approved petition. While adjudicators may ultimately reach the same conclusion as in a prior decision, they are not compelled to do so as a default starting point as the burden of proof to establish eligibility for an immigration benefit always lies with the petitioner,” says Lee Francis Cissna, newly appointed director of the USCIS.

My Law, LLC                                           

Immigration & Tax Law Firm

www.mylawllc.com

Phone: (630) 903-9625

1700 Park Street, Suite 203

Naperville, IL 60563

E-mail: attorney@mylawllc.com

H-1B visa renewals are getting tougher

Fresh changes in rules notified by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for renewal of non-immigrant visas will severely impact H-1B visa holders. Petitions for renewal of such visas, particularly when the underlying facts that supported the original petition have not changed, are currently considered with a presumption of approval, but that will no longer be the case, USISC said. Consequently, the burden of proof will be on the petitioner to substantiate his application even when nothing has changed since the previous petition.

The new rules are in line with the Donald Trump administration’s 'Buy American, Hire American' policy, the USCIS said. The new changes were announced even as a comprehensive review of the H-1B programme is under way.