USCIS announced today that the H-1B Cap has been met for year 2010. This is the end of an unusually long period of time USCIS accepted H-1B nonimmigrant visa petitions. This does not effect extensions, amendments, or change of employers for current H-1B visa holders. Employers may resume filing H-1B petitions on April 1, 2010 [...]

With an escalation in employer inspections by United States Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Department of Labor (DOL), it has become vital that employers with H-1B employees have their H-1B Public Access Files in order. What Documents Should be in a H-1B Public Access File? To avoid potential [...]

Among immigration lawyers, 2009 will be known as the year of “un-cappable” H-1B visas. What is an H-1B nonimmigrant visa? H-1B nonimmigrant visas allow U.S. employers to temporarily (up to six years) employ foreign workers in what USCIS calls “specialty occupations.” The regulations define a “specialty occupation” as requiring theoretical and practical application of a [...]

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced this morning that the H-1B nonimmigrant cap for fiscal year 2010 has not been reached. Should USCIS receive the necessary number of petitions to meet the respective caps, it will issue an update to advise the public that, as of a certain date (the “final receipt date”), the [...]