This new instructional video will show you how you can complete Form AR-11 to notify USCIS of your new address on a pending case online at the USCIS website www.uscis.gov.

To view the video, click HERE.

Is it permissible to enroll in school while in B-1/B-2 status?

No, it is not.  The regulations, at 8 CFR 214.2(b)(7), specifically prohibit study in the United States while in B-1 or B-2 status.

Before enrolling in classes, individuals who are in B-1 or B-2 status must first acquire F-1 (academic student) or M-1 (vocational student) status.  Enrolling in classes while in B-1/B-2 status will result in a status violation.  Individuals in B-1 or B-2 status, who have violated their nonimmigrant status by enrolling in classes, are not eligible to extend their B status or change to F-1 or M-1 status. These regulations provide no exceptions.

How can I obtain F-1 or M-1 status?

If you currently hold B-1 or B-2 nonimmigrant status and would like to enroll in classes, you may apply for a change of status to F-1 or M-1, as appropriate, if:

• You have not yet enrolled in classes
• Your current status has not expired
• You have not engaged in unauthorized employment

To change your nonimmigrant status from B-1/B-2 to F-1 or M-1, you must file an Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status (Form I-539), and include the required fee and documents listed in the filing instructions.

Please Note:

• If you enroll in classes before USCIS approves your Form I-539, you will be ineligible to change your nonimmigrant status from B to F or M.
• If you are applying to extend your B-1/B-2 stay and you have already enrolled in classes, USCIS cannot approve your B-1/B-2 extension because of the status violation.

What if I am not eligible?

If you are not eligible to change your nonimmigrant status to F-1 or M-1, you may apply for an F-1 or M-1 visa at a consular post abroad.  For information about consular processing, please visit the Department of State’s website at www.state.gov/travel.  For information about the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), please visit the SEVP website at:  www.ice.gov/sevis.

Regular H-1B Cap:  29,700

U.S. Masters H-1B Cap: 12,300

The H-1B numbers continue to move very slowly.

We will update our web site at www.bashyamspiro.com when more information becomes available.

When employers do not comply with this requirement, the Department of Labor (DOL) can request back wages on behalf of these employees.  That is what happened recently when the DOL obtained nearly $1 million in back wages on interest on behalf of 135 H-1B workers employed with Smartsoft International.  It is important that employers who employ H-1B workers understand their responsibilities and comply with their H-1B related obligations.

To read the DOL release on the Smartsoft case, please click here.

These additional fees apply to petitioners who employ 50 or more employees in the United States with more than 50 percent of its employees in the United States in H-1B or L (including L-1A, L-1B and L-2) nonimmigrant status.  Petitioners meeting these criteria must submit the fee with an H-1B or L-1 petition filed:

• Initially to grant an alien nonimmigrant status described in subparagraph (H)(i)(b) or (L) of section 101(a)(15), or
• To obtain authorization for an alien having such status to change employers.

To facilitate implementation of Public Law 111-230, USCIS recommends that all H-1B, L-1A and L-1B petitioners, as part of the filing packet, include the new fee or a statement of other evidence outlining why this new fee does not apply.  USCIS requests that petitioners include a notation of whether the fee is required in bold capital letters at the top of the cover letter. Where USCIS does not receive such explanation and/or documentation with the initial filing, it may issue a Request for Evidence (RFE) to determine whether the petition is covered by the public law. An RFE may be required even if such evidence is submitted, if questions remain.

The additional fee, if applicable, is in addition to the base processing fee, the existing Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee, and any applicable American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (ACWIA) fee, needed to file a petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker (Form I-129), as well as any premium processing fees, if applicable.

We will provide additional information at www.bashyamspiro.com when it becomes available.

To read our newsletter, please click HERE.

USCIS has released an informative Question and Answer on this suspension that you can read here.

We will post additional information at www.bashyamspiro.com when it becomes available.

Here’s what happened:

Employment-Based Category Two (EB-2):

• China – advanced 2 months
• India – advanced 2 months
  

Employment-Based Category Three (EB-3)

• All Other Chargeability Areas – advanced 6 months
• China – advanced 1 months
• Dominican Republic – advanced 6 months
  
• India – stayed the same
  
• Philippines – advanced 6 months
• Mexico – Unavailable
  

We will keep you updated at www.bashyamspiro.com as additional information becomes available.

If you run a company and hire H-1B professional workers, is it time to panic? Not yet.

The Senate bill is not law.  It still has to be reconciled with the House bill (HR 6080), which passed on August 10, 2010.   The House bill also contains the H-1B fee increase and will be voted on by the Senate after the August recess.   The key question is why the Senate and House are proposing this fee increase on employers in a weak economy?

Illegal immigration is a hot topic right now.  In fact, it has been for years.  You cannot turn on the television without hearing a sound-bite on immigration from politicians who really do not understand the topic.  For example, Senator Chuck Schumer (D), a sponsor of the Senate bill, says the following:

“There is a part of H-1B that is abused, and it is by companies that are not American companies or even companies that are making something. Rather, they are companies that take foreign folks, bring them here, and then they stay here for a few years, learn their expertise, and go back. We think we should increase the fees when they do that,” the Senator said.

In summary, Sen. Schumer is basically saying:

• There is abuse in the H-1B program, but none by American companies or companies that ‘make something.’
• Companies hire foreign workers and the workers learn their ‘expertise’ in the U.S.
• Foreign workers in the H-1B program stay a few years and then go back to their home countries.

Other than acknowledging that there is some abuse in the H-1B program, every other point or assumption made by Sen. Schumer is completely false.

• Only an ‘American’ company can hire an H1B worker! The H1B program is strictly for American employers to hire foreign workers on a temporary basis. And even though a company may not ‘make something’, it does not mean they are irrelevant or insignificant.
• Foreign workers do not come to the US to learn their expertise. They must have it before they can be issued H1B status!  In fact, they must be offered a professional position – one that requires at least a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent).  And they must prove, with an evaluation by a US credentials agency, that they have the equivalent of a US Bachelor’s degree specifically related to the position offered.  Most of these workers have many years of professional experience as well before they come to the U.S.
• The H1B program is designed to be temporary. Foreign workers are supposed to go home after six years! If we wanted them to stay, we wouldn’t make the Permanent Residency process so difficult and time-consuming.

Foreign workers come to the U.S., earn money and contribute to our economy through consumption and taxation.  Many apply for permanent residency so they can live in the U.S. , but many also  return home for family reasons (or because the U.S. residency process takes far too long).  Studies have established that many of the immigrant workers who remain in the U.S. are entrepreneurs who start businesses and employ U.S. workers.  Sen. Schumer fails to acknowledge the contributions foreign professional workers make to the United States economy and culture.

We believe that most people in the U.S. are pro-immigrant.  In fact, polls have proven as much.  But they are for legal immigration and understandably against illegal immigration.   By increasing H-1B filing fees on U.S. employers, the Senate goal is to raise more revenue to hire 1500 additional border patrol agents to patrol our southern border.  In essence, our government wants to penalize companies that hire legal foreign workers under the H-1B program to help prevent illegal immigration.  Why should illegal immigration negatively impact a U.S. company that legally hires a foreign professional worker?  It should not. These two issues are –  and should be – separate.

Our only hope is that any bill that will eventually be signed by President Obama does not contain this H-1B fee increase on employers.  Penalizing law-abiding employers in a down economy is not good for our country.  As Mohandas Pai, Director of Human Resources for Infosys, said in reaction to the Senate bill, “it sends a very negative message from America that highly skilled people are not welcome, the markets are closing up.”  Instead of a being what is the backbone of this great country, immigration now seems to be an unnecessarily negative and divisive issue.

Let’s hope for real, positive change in our immigration policies, not just talk of it.

Regular H-1B Cap:  28,500

U.S. Masters H-1B Cap: 11,900

The H-1B numbers are moving very slowly.  It is likely a result of the economy and different adjudication standards by the USCIS.  The bottom line, however, is that employers have plenty of time to make a decision on hiring a worker who may need an H-1B visa.

We will update our web site at www.bashyamspiro.com when more information becomes available.