May
15
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have announced that, due to the record-setting amount of H1-B visa applications this year (07), the USCIS Service Centers are dealing with a huge backlog of receipting/data entry.
The expected dates for application processing are as follows:
California Service Center - June 15, 2007
Nebraska Service Center - May 10, 2007
Texas Service Center - May 10, 2007
Vermont Service Center - June 2, 2007
These dates do not apply to Premium Processing or I-129 H-1B (cap or non-cap) cases.
To read more about this story, click here.
May
8
Ask Chris: H1-B Visa Information
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Q: I am a graduate. What are my chances of getting a H-1B visa now? If I got the H-1B, could I come into the US before the visa starts?
A: Unfortunately the H-1Bs for 2007/2008 were all taken April 2nd, the first day of issue. The recent release was for jobs starting no sooner than October 1st 2007. If you had been one of those lucky people who got through then yes, there would be a wait of a few months before they could actually enter the US on the H-1B. In fact, you can arrive up to 30 days prior to start date.
The H-1B is the main graduate visa, there are no other graduate visas. Read more
May
7
USCIS Reaches H-1B Exemption Cap For Fiscal Year 2008
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US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that enough H1-B applications filed under the exemption category have been received, with a final receipt date of April 30 (30APR07).
20,000 H1-B visas are set aside every year for “foreign workers who have earned a master’s degree or higher from a US institution of higher education”.
Any applications for a FY 2008 cap exemption for “workers with a master’s or higher degree earned from a US institution of higher education” received on or after May 1, 2007 will be automatically rejected.
To read more about the H-1B exemption cap, click here.
Apr
27
H-1B Cap Hits Silicon Valley
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The limit on H-1B visas will have a severely negative effect on the IT industry, according to those in the business in Silicon Valley.
At the last census in 2000, it was found that over half the engineers in the valley were foreign-born, mostly of Indian or Chinese origin. But now the majority of software engineers and programmers graduating from US universities will have to go home, thanks to the extremely limited amount of visa’s available.
A record was set in April for the number of H-1B applications sent in to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). Only 65,000 H-1B visas were available and over 130,000 applications were received in USCIS processing centers on the first day the petitions were allowed to be sent in (02APR07).
Even Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has strongly criticized the government for the visa shortage, claiming that the US will suffer from lack of labor in the highly skilled IT industry.
To read more about this story, click here.
Apr
20
Ask Chris: Any H1-B Visa’s Left?
Filed Under Ask Chris, H-1B Visa | Leave a Comment
Q: Is it possible for me to work in the US as a freelance consultant on a H1-B visa?
A: Unfortunately as you may know the H-1B visas were all gone on the first day of release. We are hoping for major reform of the H-1B visa this year to take effect next year; in the meantime, other options for graduates without substantial means to set up on their own as freelance consultants are very limited.
The only potentially viable option is for people to take a year off and study here through a local community college. Once graduated they become eligible for a one year general work permit which quickly bring them back into the work force. If they have a degree already then can try and get onto the H-1B program next year while their US employer may also consider sponsoring them for a green card.
Apr
17
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has completed a computer-generated selection process to decide which of the thousands of H-1B visa applications will be processed.
The lottery method of selection was decided upon after USCIS received almost 130,000 H1-B visa applications on the first day of processing alone (02APR07). No further petitions were accepted after the second day (03APR07).
USCIS completed this determination ahead of the preliminary schedule noted on April 3, when it announced it had received enough petitions to meet the cap for FY 2008.
H1-B applicants who submitted correctly filed petitions and made it through the lottery will receive a receipt notice dated on or after April 12, 2007, while petitions that did not make it through the lottery process will be returned to sender with the fees, a process that is estimated to take four weeks.
All H1-B petitions that opted to use the 15-day premium processing service will have their petitions begin processing on April 12.
To read more about this story, click here.
Apr
12
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced a preliminary number of H-1B visa filings as the thousands of applications received at the beginning of April (02/03APR07) continue to be processed.
During those two days, USCIS received 133,000 H-1B petitions, 17,000 lower that the original estimate of 150,000 made by USCIS. The updated number of 133,000 was reached after the applications were physically counted.
To read more about this story, click here.
Apr
4
USCIS Reaches 2008 H-1B Cap
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US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that enough H-1B applications have been received to meet the cap for the fiscal year 2008.
150,000 applications were received by Monday afternoon, of which only 65,000 will be granted visas.
This means that the official “final receipt date” is April 2, 2007.
USCIS will randomly select from all applications received on April 2, 2007 and April 3, 2007. All applications that do not make the random selection will be returned along with the filing fee(s).
To read more about this story, click here.
Apr
3
2008 H-1B Visa Cap Reached?
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The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) may soon automatically reject incoming H-1B visa applications due to the 65,000 cap having already been reached.
Processing on the H-1B visas began on Monday (02APR07). 65,000 visas will be issued for the 2008 fiscal year which will begin in October 2007. An additional 20,000 H-1B visas will be granted to applicants with advanced degrees from US colleges.
A USCIS spokeswoman states that the USCIS service offices in Vermont and California have hired extra staff to cope with the influx of mail on Monday and Tuesday (04APR07), reporting “significant increases in the amount of mail” they receive.
She says, “We’ve hired extra staff to work in the mailroom and sort through it. Right now, H-1B is still open. But once we state the final accept date, we’ll stop accepting them and petitions will be rejected.”
Apr
2
H-1B Visa Processing Begins
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The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has started processing the 2007 batch of H-1B applications. Approximately 65,000 visas are available, most of which will be granted in the next six weeks.
In 2006, federal officials granted 65,000 H-1B visas by May, a new record in the speed with which the visas were given.
Immigration attorney Steve Navarre of Des Plaines says, “This year, it’s the worst ever. If it stays open a week, that’ll surprise me.”
To read more about this story, click here.