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Important updates on non-immigrants traveling into the United States with employment based visas, such as H-1B. (Updated 2/22/2010)
It is highly recommended that nonimmigrants traveling into the United States with employment based visas, such as H-1B, carry proof of employment with them should the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) ask for verification of the employment. This would include foreign nationals with H-1B visas who work off-site, such as IT professionals who are sent by their sponsor/employers to clients’ businesses. Such proof can include a recent job letter, and for those already working on the H-1B job, things such as recent pay stubs, tax returns, W-2 Forms, time sheets, weekly reports or other documentation of the company and position.
Read moreUrrgent: Clarifications on H-1B: How Third-Party Placements Relate to Employer-Employee Relationships -By Keshab Raj Seadie, Esq. (Updated 01/16/2010)
This office has discussed many times what is involved in a foreign national obtaining H-1B status. A person with an H-1B visa or H-1B status comes to the United States to perform services in a specialty occupation as described by law and that person meets the qualifications required to perform that occupation.
Read moreUSCIS Reaches FY 2010 H-1B Cap (12/23/2009)
WASHINGTON— (12/22/09) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year (FY) 2010. USCIS is hereby notifying the public that Dec. 21, 2009 is the “final receipt date” for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2010.
Read moreFinally H-1B can be filed without LCA (updated 11-11-09)
WASHINGTON—(November 5, 2009) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is announcing a 120-day period in which it will temporarily accept H-1B petitions filed without Labor Condition Applications (LCAs) that have been certified by the Department of Labor (DOL).
USCIS has received requests from the public to accept H-1B petition filings that include LCAs that have been filed with DOL but that DOL has not yet certified. Processing delays arising from DOL’s recently implemented “iCERT” system have resulted in increased processing times (beyond 7 days) for certain LCA certifications. Affected employers and beneficiaries have reported being negatively impacted by DOL’s increased processing times which currently delays their ability to file H-1B petitions with USCIS. DOL expects that the current increase in LCA processing times is temporary.
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