News Updates

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Update

USCIS Filing Fees to Increase Effective November 23, 2010

Fees will increase an average of 10%.  One notable exception is the fee for the naturalization application, which will remain unchanged.  The adjusted fees will apply to any application or petition filed with USCIS on or after 11/23/10.

The USCIS filing fee schedule, including existing fees and adjusted fees is available on the USCIS website.  Also on the website are Questions and Answers regarding the new USCIS fee schedule.

H-1B Cap Count

H-1B visa usage for Federal Fiscal Year 2011 (10/1/10 through 9/30/11) remains slow relative to H-1B usage prior to 2008.   The “visas used” numbers below include petitions which have been approved by USCIS as well as those which have been filed and are pending adjudication with USCIS. It does not include petitions that have been denied.

As of 10/1/10, visa usage is as follows:

H-1B Regular Cap:         65,000 visas available; 40,600 visas used

H-1B Master’s Cap Exemption:   20,000 visas available; 14,900 visas used

Click here for details regarding the H-1B FY11 Cap Season.

NOTE:  The USCIS website indicates H-1B processing times are averaging 2 months.  However, in reality we are seeing a processing time of 3.5 to 4 months for most H-1B petitions.  USCIS is aware of the increased processing time and has indicated it is devoting additional resources to the H-1B Unit in order to reduce the processing time to its stated goal of 60 days.

Processing Times Posted on USCIS Website

Clients may find it helpful to track case processing times via the USCIS website.  However, please be advised that the processing times posted on the website represent data that is approximately 45 days old at the time of posting.  For example, for the USCIS California Service Center, as of today the site indicates the information was posted on 9/15/10, but then indicates the processing dates are as of 7/31/10.

In addition, the listed dates reflect the most recently-filed case in the particular product line on an examiner’s desk at the time the data was gathered. This means that there are many cases with substantially earlier receipt dates than those officially listed that have not been processed as of the date of publication of the schedule.

Further, USCIS’ Customer Service Center is not using its own agency’s posted processing times in order to determine whether a case is beyond the official processing time.  As a result, when LMAC seeks to file a formal status inquiry on a case which appears to be beyond the USCIS processing time, USCIS will often refuse to accept the inquiry.  This matter is being addressed through a national liaison effort, but to date remains unresolved.

October 12, 2010

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