News

The H-2B program filing window opened at midnight EST on January 1st. The H-2B program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United

The proposed H-1B Electronic Registration rule has been published in the Federal Register, which means that the 30 day comment period has officially begun. The

****Update: After the comment period closed, on January 11, 2019 DHS submitted its final rule to OMB. This suggests that DHS still intends to move

As if the lottery system weren’t stressful enough, once you get through the lottery and are actually selected for a cap-subject H-1B, you still have

Last month, DHS submitted its report to the court on the status of planned regulations to rescind the H-4 EAD.  At that time, DHS confirmed

Last month, DHS submitted its report to the court on the status of planned regulations to rescind the H-4 EAD.  At that time, DHS confirmed

I want to provide affected students and their employers with actions they can take to urge USCIS to expedite “cap-gap” H-1B petitions. As we are

The Department of Homeland Security plans to publish a Final Rule tomorrow that will increase the Premium Processing filing fee from $1,225 to $1,410 for petitions filed

USCIS has just announced that instead of bringing back premium processing for cap-subject H-1Bs on September 10, 2018, they are now extending the suspension all

On August 20, 2018, the Department of Homeland Security submitted its second status update to the court in the H-4 EAD litigation. According to the

The automatic cap-gap extension of OPT was implemented by USCIS in order to assist foreign students who have been sponsored for an H-1B visa. The

I hope you found my H-1B receipt notice post helpful to you while you waited with bated breath to find out whether yours was selected

The USCIS Ombudsman conducted a teleconference today to discuss the H-1B lottery process. Although nothing groundbreaking was discussed, they did provide some previously unavailable data.

08/17/18 UPDATE: as of today, we’ve received 100% of the petitions back that we are expecting. 08/01/18 UPDATE: as of today, we’ve received approximately 97%

*****UPDATE  5/15/18 – USCIS ANNOUNCED THAT DATA ENTRY IS COMPLETE***** This means we should see the last of the receipt notices for selected petitions arriving

***UPDATE 4/19/18 – Our office is finally starting to see some filing fee checks cashed today*** ImmigrationGirl.com readers know that USCIS announced yesterday that it

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

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 filing window for the Fiscal Year 2019 H-1B cap opens today, and the last date for USCIS to receive petitions is Friday, April 6th.

When H-1B lotteries were becoming the norm, an issue was raised regarding duplicate filings as a way to increase the chances of being selected in

After previously suggesting that premium processing would remain available for H-1B petitions filed in this year’s lottery, just with a delayed start date, USCIS instead

Yesterday, USCIS issued a new policy memo that updates previous guidance related to H-1B placements at third-party worksites. This involves H-1B petitions where Mr. Worker

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals agreed again to hold the H-4 EAD litigation in abeyance so that DHS can eventually move forward with a new rule

Immigrationgirl.com readers know that DHS has announced its intentions in the fall Unified Agenda. The Agenda indicates that DHS plans to propose a new regulation in February

USCIS SCOPS Confirms No Procedural Changes for H-1B FY2019 Cap Season USCIS confirmed to AILA that the agency is not anticipating any procedural changes for the FY2019

This time of year, the most common question asked by those seeking to become H-1B visa holders is “What documents do I need to provide?”

I think we can all agree that it has become more difficult to obtain approval of H-1B petitions under the Trump administration. Without any change

Next month, we are expecting the Trump administration to publish a new proposed regulation that would rescind the H-4 EAD rule. Public Comments can be

*****IMPORTANT! ****** I have just posted a survey at http://immigrationgirl.com/survey-for-h-4-ead-holders/ in order to collect data on the use of the H-4 EAD. This will ultimately support the

Headlines spotted in India today: “Trump administration considers proposal that may send back more than 500,000 Indian tech workers” “Proposed tweak in H-1B visa rules

I’m so sorry for my lack of posting lately! I have been swamped with RFEs from the April H-1B lottery. I just want to take

As expected, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has officially announced that it has resumed premium processing today for all types of H-1B petitions. Reference/Source: (immigrationgirl.com) http://immigrationgirl.com/premium-processing-is-back-for-all-h-1b-petition-types/

Reddy & Neumann, P.C. has recently obtained approvals of H-1B petitions overcoming Requests for Evidence in which the government had questioned whether the Level I

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) resumed premium processing today for H-1B visa petitions subject to the Fiscal Year year (FY) 2018 cap. This is

Many readers here at immigrationgirl.com have been asking about a new kind of H-1B Request for Evidence (RFE) mentioning the use of a Level 1

As I’m sure you all are aware, President Trump announced yesterday that the DACA program for certain undocumented individuals brought to the US as children

Many readers here at immigrationgirl.com have been asking about a new kind of H-1B Request for Evidence (RFE) mentioning the use of a Level 1

Want to know when to expect your H-1B approval, or if not selected, when to expect your returned petition? I’m sharing updates from my firm’s

Over the last six months, one of the top questions I hear is “What’s going to happen to the H-4 EAD?” Why are people so

As immigrationgirl.com readers know, President Trump signed the Buy American and Hire American Executive Order in April, which seeks to create higher wages and employment

7/28/17 UPDATE: As of today, we have received 80% of our expected returned petitions back in the mail. USCIS announced last week that they had

Without premium processing and with long processing times, it is becoming more common to need an amendment while the underlying petition is still pending. I recently

The new head of the U.S. Department of Labor, Alexander Acosta, will be “aggressively” looking into fraud and abuse of visa programs, particularly the Labor Condition

Individuals seeking entry into the United States are inspected at Ports of Entry by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers who determine their admissibility. Under

Now that we are moving into the actual adjudication process for the H-1B petitions selected in this year’s lottery, you may be wondering what could

I hope you found my H-1B receipt notice posts helpful to you while you waited with bated breath to find out whether yours was selected or

*****UPDATE  5/3/17 – USCIS ANNOUNCED THAT DATA ENTRY IS COMPLETE***** Below you will find daily updates regarding the cap-subject H-1B receipt notices for petitions filed

Below you will find daily updates regarding the cap-subject H-1B receipt notices for petitions filed in the FY2018 lottery. Before commenting, please review the following

Below you will find daily updates regarding the cap-subject H-1B receipt notices for petitions filed in the FY2018 lottery. Before commenting, please review the following

I want to share with immigrationgirl.com readers the potential impact of the order, especially on the H-1B visa program as this has been a top

4/14/17 UPDATE – We are continuing to see checks cashed, now for both service centers. They are all Advanced Degree. Also, someone is spreading around

A March 31, 2017 policy memorandum published by USCIS updates guidance to adjudicating officers related to whether certain computer-related positions qualify as a specialty occupation

On the day the H-1B cap season opens, USCIS announces new measure to detect H-1B fraud and abuse: “WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Shortly after last year’s H-1B lottery results were shared and H-1B receipt notices and rejection notices were mailed out, a class action lawsuit sought to

SAVE JOBS USA v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY was a case filed back on April 23, 2015 in the United States District Court for

Today, USCIS has posted its updated guidance for proper filing of an H-1B petition in the cap this year. Here are the highlights: USCIS will

I can’t tell you how many times I am asked about “new requirements” for H-1B or the status of the H-4 EAD or the validity

DO NOT FILE ANY CAP-SUBJECT H-1B IN PREMIUM PROCESSING! Starting April 3, 2017, USCIS is temporarily suspending premium processing for ALLH-1B petitions. This suspension may last

The numerical limitations on H-1B visa issuance shall not apply to any nonimmigrant alien issued a visa or otherwise provided H-1B status who “has earned

This time of year, a common question arises from people who were lucky enough to be selected in the H-1B lottery last year, but unfortunately

While it may be tempting to file multiple petitions for the same beneficiary to gain an edge, 8 CFR § 214.2(h)(2)(i)(G) states: “An employer may

Department of Homeland Security regulations were modified on January 17, 2017 to incorporate a new grace period to enhance job portability for individuals in E-1,

SAVE JOBS USA v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY was a case filed back on April 23, 2015 in the United States District Court for

We are inching closer to April, which means many people are in the beginning stages of preparing to file an H-1B petition in the cap

I’m sure you all have heard by now that President Trump issued an issued an Executive Order on January 27, 2017  entitled “Protecting the Nation

Many readers here are very familiar with H-1B cap season and the lottery process. But for those new to the process this year, I thought