USCIS, July 24, 2017 - " U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will resume premium processing for certain cap-exempt H-1B petitions effective immediately. The H-1B visa has an annual cap of 65,000 visas each fiscal year. Additionally, there is an annual “master’s cap”...
Cyrus Mehta, July 31, 2017 - "Those who filed under the FY 2018 H-1B visa lottery and were selected must have been pleased. As premium processing was eliminated, the approvals have just started coming in this summer. Cases that are not readily approved receive Requests for Evidence (RFE). Many of...
USCIS, Sept. 18, 2017 - "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) resumed premium processing today for all H-1B visa petitions subject to the Fiscal Year year (FY) 2018 cap. The FY 2018 cap has been set at 65,000 visas. Premium processing has also resumed for the annual 20,000 additional...
Yeganeh Torbati, Reuters, Sept. 19, 2017 - "The Trump administration is making it more difficult for skilled foreigners to work in the United States, challenging visa applications more often than at nearly any point in the Obama era, according to data reviewed by Reuters. The more intense scrutiny...
Cyrus Mehta, Sept. 25, 2017 - " ... An article in Reuters by Yeganeh Torbati entitled “ Trump administration red tape tangles up visas for skilled foreigners, data shows ,” where I have been quoted, brilliantly shines the torch on the dreaded RFE and how it is used to distort a visa...
Next Generation Technology v. Johnson, Sept. 29, 2017 - "In this action, which is before this Court on consent pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 636(c), plaintiffs Next Generation Technology, Inc. (“NGT”) and Puspita Deo (“Deo”) (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) challenge, under...
USCIS, Oct. 3, 2017 - "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) resumed premium processing today for all H-1B visa extension of stay petitions. Premium processing is now available for all types of H-1B petitions."
Cyrus D. Mehta, Oct. 23, 2017 - "In his inaugural address, President Trump pledged to end what he referred to as “American carnage,” depicting the United States bleakly—as a “land of abandoned factories, economic angst, rising crime”—while pledging “a new...
DHS OIG, Oct. 20, 2017 - "USCIS site visits provide minimal assurance that H-1B visa participants are compliant and not engaged in fraudulent activity. These visits assess whether petitioners and beneficiaries comply with applicable immigration laws and regulations. USCIS can approve more than 330...
Cora-Ann Pestaina, Nov. 13, 2017 - "USCIS’ current ferocious attack on H-1B petitions has been discussed here , here and here . Backed by the Trump administration, USCIS has openly declared war on H-1Bs. What is most frustrating, in my opinion, is not only the fact that there appears to be...
Laura Meckler, Wall Street Journal, Nov. 19, 2017 - "The Trump administration is adding hurdles and increasing scrutiny in the employment-visa application process, making it harder for businesses to hire foreign workers, and companies and immigration attorneys are bracing for more changes soon....
Shilpa Phadnisi, Times of India, Dec. 25, 2017 - "In further bad news for Indian professionals looking to work in the US, the Department of Homeland Security is readying a proposal that will make getting an H-1B tougher. It is looking to impose stringent restrictions on the H-B petitioners'...
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, McClatchy DC, Dec. 30, 2017 - "The Department of Homeland Security is considering new regulations that would prevent H-1B visa extensions, according to two U.S. sources briefed on the proposal. The measure potentially could stop hundreds of thousands of foreign workers from...
Cyrus D. Mehta, Jan. 6, 2018 - "There are many people born in India, and to a lesser extent China, who have been patiently waiting for over a decade for their green cards. They have complied with all immigration formalities and the only thing holding them back is an available visa. The law allows...
Franco Ordoñez, McClatchyDC, Jan 9, 2018 - "Under intense pressure from the business and technology communities, the Trump administration appears to be backing away from a policy change that could have forced foreign tech workers out of the country. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration...
Two new decisions today, Jan. 25, 2018: Matter of B-C-, Inc., ID# 1139516 (AAO Jan. 25, 2018) Matter of G-J-S-USA, Inc., ID# 1182139 (AAO Jan. 25, 2018)
Cyrus D. Mehta & Sophia Genovese, Feb. 6, 2018 - " As we have previously blogged , many of the Requests for Evidence (RFEs) issued to petitions filed under the FY 2018 H-1B visa lottery objected to the H-1B worker being paid an entry level wage. The AAO recently took up the issue of Level...
USCIS, Feb. 22, 2018 - "This policy memorandum (PM) establishes U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policy relating to H-1B petitions filed for workers who will be employed at one or more third-party worksites."
Cyrus D. Mehta, Mar. 5, 2018 - "The attacks on the H-1B visa program by the Trump administration continue unabated. On February 22, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a policy memorandum entitled Contracts and Itineraries Requirements for H-1B Petitions Involving Third...
Matter of S- Inc., Adopted Decision 2018-02 (AAO Mar. 23, 2018) - "“Related entities” include petitioners, whether or not related through corporate ownership and control, that file cap-subject H-1B petitions for the same beneficiary for substantially the same job. Absent a legitimate...
Cyrus D. Mehta and Eleyteria Diakopoulos, Mar. 31, 2018 - "As we have blogged about extensively in the past, President Trump’s “ Buy American and Hire American ” Executive Order No. 13788 has had the most negative impact on the H-1B visa program. Following this pattern, the recent...
Shilpa Phadnis, Times of India, Apr. 4, 2018 - "Immigration experts believe there could be a sharp decline in the number of H-1B petitions filed by Indian IT services companies this year following the tough environment created by the US administration under president Donald Trump. ... The Trump...
USCIS, Apr. 6, 2018 - "USCIS has reached the congressionally-mandated 65,000 H-1B visa cap for fiscal year 2019. USCIS has also received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to meet the 20,000 visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap. The agency will reject and return...
Miriam Jordan, New York Times, Apr. 6, 2018 - "Ms. Jalakam and thousands of other spouses of skilled workers have been told that their special work permits — authorization that can mean the difference between struggling and thriving in their adopted homeland — are likely to be revoked...
Cyrus D. Mehta, Apr. 10, 2018 - "In recent denials of H-1B petitions, the USCIS has been taking the position that the occupation for which H-1B classification is sought must require a degree in the specific field. This position runs contrary to the definition of a specialty occupation. An occupation...