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Archive for April, 2008
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
On April 14, 2008, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) conducted its computer-generated random selection processes to select which H-1B petitions for fiscal year 2009 (FY 2009) would be adjudicated.
USCIS conducted two random selections – first on petitions qualifying for the 20,000 “master’s or higher degree” (advanced degree) exemption, and second on the remaining advance degree petitions together with the general H-1B pool of petitions for the 65,000 cap.
According to USCIS, the approximately 163,000 petitions received on the first five days of the eligible filing period for FY 2009 (April 1 through April 7, 2008) were labeled with unique numerical identifiers. USCIS has notified the appropriate service centers which numerical identifiers have been randomly selected, so each center may continue with final processing of the petitions associated with those numerical identifiers.
Petitioners whose properly filed petitions have been selected for full adjudication should receive a receipt notice dated no later than June 2, 2008. USCIS will return unselected petitions with the fee(s) to petitioners or their authorized representatives. The total adjudication process is expected to take approximately eight to ten weeks.
For cases selected through the random selection process and initially filed for premium processing, the 15-day premium processing period begins April 14, the day of the random selection process. USCIS has “wait-listed” some H-1B petitions, meaning they may possibly replace petitions chosen to receive an FY-2009 cap number, but that subsequently are denied, withdrawn, or otherwise found ineligible. USCIS will retain these petitions until a decision is made whether they will replace a previously selected petition. USCIS will send a letter to the wait list petitioners to inform them of their status.
USCIS expects that for each of these wait-listed petitions, it will either issue a receipt notice or return the petition with fees within six to eight weeks.
As more information becomes available, we will post it at www.bashyamspiro.com.
Posted in H1B Visas, News | No Comments »
Friday, April 11th, 2008
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today a preliminary number of nearly 163,000 H-1B petitions received during the filing period ending on April 7, 2008. More than 31,200 of those petitions were for the advanced degree category.
USCIS expects that next week it will conduct the computer-generated random selection process, beginning with the selection of the 20,000 petitions under the advanced degree exemption. Those petitions not selected under the advanced degree category will join the random selection process for the cap-subject 65,000 limit.
USCIS will reject, and return filing fees for all cap-subject petitions not randomly selected, unless found to be a duplicate.
We will provide additional updates at www.bashyamspiro.com when they become available.
Posted in H1B Visas, News | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap for fiscal year 2009. USCIS has also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the “advanced degree” exemption. Before running the random selection process, USCIS will complete initial data entry for all filings received during the filing period ending on April 7, 2008. Due to the high number of petitions, USCIS is not yet able to announce the precise day on which it will conduct the random selection process.
USCIS will carry out the computer-generated random selection process for all cap-subject petitions received. USCIS will select the number of petitions needed to meet the caps of 65,000 for the general category and 20,000 under the “advanced degree” exemption limit. USCIS will reject and return filing fees for all cap-subject petitions not randomly selected, unless found to be a duplicate. USCIS will handle duplicate filings in accordance with the interim final rule published on March 24, 2008 in the Federal Register.
The agency will conduct the selection process for “advanced degree” exemption petitions first. All “advanced degree” petitions not selected will be part of the random selection process for the 65,000 limit.
Posted in H1B Visas, News | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
USCIS announced that it will not reject an H-1B petition that is subject to the fiscal year 2009 cap solely on the grounds that it was received at the wrong service center (e.g. the petition may have been inadvertently mailed to the California Service Center instead of the Vermont Service Center or vice versa).
It is important to note this accommodation does not apply if the petitions were sent to the Texas or Nebraska Service Centers.
USCIS is taking this limited, short-term measure to alleviate concerns from the public where an H-1B petition has been timely received by USCIS but at the incorrect Service Center. This measure applies only to H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year 2009 cap that are received by USCIS before the close of business on the “final receipt date”. USCIS will announce the final receipt date once the agency determines it has received the number of petitions needed to fill the congressionally mandated limitations of 65,000 new H-1B visas and 20,000 U.S. advanced degree exemptions per fiscal year.
Posted in H1B Visas, News | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released an interim final rule extending the period of Optional Practical Training (OPT) from 12 to 29 months for qualified F-1 non-immigrant students. Currently, foreign students in F-1 nonimmigrant status who have been enrolled on a full-time basis for at least one full academic year in a college, university, conservatory, or seminary are eligible for 12 months of optional practical training (OPT) to work for a U.S. employer in a job directly related to the student’s major area of study. This interim final rule extends the maximum period of OPT from 12 months to 29 months for F-1 students who have completed a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degree and accept employment with employers enrolled in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) E-Verify employment verification program.
To obtain an extension of OPT, eligible F-1 students must request a recommendation from their Designated School Official (DSO) and file a Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization prior to the expiration of their current OPT employment authorization. Once the I-765 application is filed, the student’s OPT is automatically extended for up to 180 days until a decision has been made on the case. This interim rule requires F-1 students with an approved OPT extension to report changes in the student’s name or address and changes in the employer’s name or address to the DSO. The rule also requires the employers of F-1 students with an extension of post-completion OPT authorization to report to the student’s DSO within 48 hours after the OPT student has been terminated from, or otherwise leaves, his or her employment with that employer prior to the end of the authorized period of OPT.
The interim final rule also ameliorates the “cap-gap” problem by extending the authorized period of stay for all F-1 students who have a properly filed H-1B petition and change of status request (filed under the cap for the next fiscal year) pending with the USCIS. If USCIS approves the H-1B petition, the students will have an extension that enables them to remain in the United States until the requested start date indicated in the H-1B petition takes effect. The automatic extension does not apply to cases where the H-1B petition is not selected by USCIS for processing or for H-1B petitions filed with a request for consular notification. However, it may be possible to amend the H-1B petition from consular processing to change of status so that the F-1 student can take advantage of the automatic OPT extension. If the H-1B application is ultimately revoked or denied, the automatic extension of OPT is immediately terminated.
We will post more information on this new interim rule as it becomes available on www.bashyamspiro.com.
Posted in H1B Visas, News, Other | No Comments »
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will finish more than one million naturalization cases during fiscal year 2008. The agency also recently updated the expected time it will take to complete naturalization cases, projecting processing times averaging 13-15 months. That’s a three month improvement from the 16-18 month projection that USCIS made six months ago. The USCIS has stated a goal of improving their processing of these cases by adding nearly 3000 new employees, detailing employees to work in the most heavily affected offices, quadrupling the funding for overtime and using Asylum Office facilities and staff to conduct naturalization interviews. Last year alone, USCIS received a record 1.4 million naturalization applications.
As more information becomes available on naturalization processing and processing times, we will post it here at www.bashyamspiro.com.
Posted in Naturalization, News | No Comments »
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