H Visa Blog Entries

Here is a commonly encountered situation for AOS applicants (I-485 pending) from our clients-only extranet:

On August 13, 2010, President Obama signed Public Law 111-230, which contains provisions to increase certain H-1B and L-1 petition fees. The law, which already in effect, requires the submission of an additional fee of $2,000 for certain H-1B petitions and $2,250 for certain L-1A and L-1B petitions.vUSCIS has clarified certain matters that employers should bear in mind.

Questions and Answers
Q. To which petitioners does the new fee apply?

H.R. 6080 has been passed and is expected to be signed by the President today, 13 August 2010. This Bill raises The H-1B and L-1 application filing fees (fraud prevention and detection) by $2,000 for companies with 50 or more employees in USA if more than 50% of the employees are on H/L status. The fees are to be effective upon enactment (when the President signs and USCIS can implement) and will end on September 30, 2014.

The Bill states:

As of May 21, 2010, USCIS has received approximately 19,600 H-1B cap-subject petitions. Also, an additional 8,200 H-1B petitions for advanced degrees professionals have been received.

USCIS reports that as of April 27, 2010, approximately 16,500 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been filed. They have received 6,900 H-1B petitions for advanced degree professionals.

USCIS reports that as of April 15, 2010, approximately 13,600 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been filed. They have approved 5,800 H-1B petitions for advanced degree professionals.

As of Monday, April 5, 2010, Vermont Service Center had received a total of 9,525 quota H-1B petitions. 6,791 were bachelor's, and 2,734 were advanced degree. All cases received before April 7, 2010, will get an April 7, 2010 receipt date. Those received on April 7, 2010 or later will have the actual receipt date. For those submitted for Premium Processing, the clock will start on April 7, 2010.

Here is a question from our clients-only extranet.

Whats the relevance or importance of having continuous pay stubs (How much gap is permissible if Not significant?) in the processing of Green card of an H1B holder.

What kind of problems can employment-based nonimmigrants (H-1, L-1, E-1, E-2, E-3, TN) face during reentry?

I think this question is most relevant for H-1 holders, but other employment-based nonimmigrants may also note the general principles here.

I am reproducing material from our employers-only (by invitation only) conference call for tomorrow. These matters need to be in place for H-1 new applications, transfers as well as extensions.