WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced plans to protect U.S. workers from H-1B program discrimination by providing greater transparency and oversight.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced multiple measures to further deter and detect H-1B visa fraud and abuse. The H-1B visa program should help U.S. companies recruit highly-skilled foreign nationals when there is a shortage of qualified workers in the country. Yet, too many American workers who are as qualified, willing, and deserving to work in these fields have been ignored or unfairly disadvantaged. Protecting American workers by combating fraud in employment-based immigration programs is a priority for USCIS.
This guidance provides you with some key requirements you must fulfill to apply for an H-1B Visa. For each requirement, USCIS has included forms of evidence that you may submit to meet the requirement and other tips to help you prepare your petition.
For more visit this USCIS link: Understanding H-1B Requirements
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year 2018 cap on April 3, 2017. All cap-subject H-1B petitions filed before April 3, 2017, for the FY 2018 cap will be rejected.
Starting April 3, 2017, USCIS will temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1B petitions. This suspension may last up to 6 months. While H-1B premium processing is suspended, petitioners will not be able to file Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service for a Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker which requests the H-1B nonimmigrant classification. USCIS will notify the public before resuming premium processing for H-1B petitions.
On July 1, 2016, as part of a workload transfer from the California and Vermont service centers, the Nebraska Service Center (NSC) began accepting certain Form I-129 H-1B and H-1B1 (Chile/Singapore Free Trade) petitions. The NSC also began accepting Form I-539 and Form I-765 applications for certain H-4 nonimmigrants that are concurrently filed with a Form I-129.
USCIS announced on July 8, 2016, that it has returned all fiscal year 2017 H-1B cap-subject petitions that were not selected in our computer-generated random selection process.
USCIS previously announced on May 2, 2016, that it completed data entry of all selected cap-subject petitions.
On July 1, 2016, the Nebraska Service Center (NSC) will begin accepting Form I-129 for H-1B and H-1B1 (Chile/Singapore Free Trade) petitions if the petitioner requests a “Continuation of previously approved employment without change with the same employer” (Box b. on Part 2, Question 2, Page 2 of the current Form I-129) with a requested action in Question 4 to:
USCIS has posted a new Web page on the H-1B and L-1 fee increase required by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (Pub. L. 114-113). Pub. L. 114-113 requires certain petitioners to submit an additional fee of $4,000 for certain H-1B petitions and an additional $4,500 for certain L-1A and L-1B petitions.
USCIS announced on May 2, 2016, that it has completed data entry of all fiscal year 2017 H-1B cap-subject petitions selected in USCIS's computer-generated random process. USCIS will now begin returning all H-1B cap-subject petitions that were not selected. Due to the high volume of filings, USCIS is unable to provide a definite time frame for returning these petitions. USCIS asks petitioners not to inquire about the status of submitted cap-subject petitions until they receive a receipt notice or an unselected petition is returned.