H Visa

On November 18, 2011, the President signed into law the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012, Public Law 112-55. The legislation contains language prohibiting the Department from implementing, administering, or enforcing, before January 1, 2012, the H-2B Wage Rule. Based on Congressional intent to continue to implement the current H-2B regulations, the Department has published a Final Rule extending the effective date of the Wage Rule to apply to work performed on and after January 1, 2012.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2012. USCIS is notifying the public that yesterday, Nov. 22, 2011, was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012.

In light of the Department's recent decision to postpone the effective date of the Wage Rule until November 30, 2011, DOL published this subsequent Federal Register Notice to provide guidance to those employers who received supplemental prevailing wage determination that have now been delayed.

US Labor Department postpones revising wage calculations for H-2B program. Delay avoids administering the H-2B program under potentially conflicting court orders.

The Department has posted new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) to assist employers and others regarding the Prevailing Wages in the H-2B program, specifically the issuance of supplemental prevailing wages in accordance with the June 15, 2011 order of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

As the traditional harvest season approaches, USCIS reminds petitioners that certain fees may not be collected from H-2A and H-2B workers, according to 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(5)(xi)(A) and § 214.2(h)(6)(i)(B). We realize that delays in adjudicating these petitions may affect employers’ ability to place workers in time-sensitive jobs. To avoid delays, USCIS urges petitioners to submit sufficient information regarding their recruitment efforts and the nature of fees collected from H-2A and H-2B workers.

The Department has posted a new Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) to assist employers and others regarding the H-2B program.

Please check attachment.

The Department has posted a new Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) to assist employers and others regarding the H-2A program. The FAQ is available here on the FAQs page of the OFLC website under the H-2A heading.

Filing location for concurrently-filed I-140/I-485 petitions 

Unless there is an accompanying I-907 all I-140/485 concurrent filings must be filed at the lockbox addresses. Depending on the jurisdiction the filing must be sent directly to TSC or NSC.

Employers who are cap-exempt under INA § 214(g)(5)(A) or (g)(5)(B) filing H-1B petitions