News Updates

Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen? Tips to Successfully Manage the Corporate Immigration Process

08:07 02 October in LAC Blog by Larrabee
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It is not uncommon for our clients to reach out to us and ask for guidance on how best to internally manage the immigration process for its foreign national employees. Some of our clients are just venturing down this path for the first time and others are struggling to manage the internal demands of a growing immigration need within their companies. As a result, we thought it might be helpful to provide some general guidance on the challenges and the best practices we see on daily basis from the interaction with our clients which range in size from small startups...

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VISA BULLETIN AND PREDICTIONS OF FUTURE VISA AVAILABILITY

17:44 24 June in News Updates by Larrabee
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Each month, the U.S. Department of State publishes its Visa Bulletin, which lists dates of immigrant visa availability based on priority date, visa category, and country of nationality.  The purpose of the Visa Bulletin is to provide applicants for permanent residency an update as to when their priority date may become current so that they may proceed to the last step in the greencard process.  The recently released  Visa Bulletin for July 2019 reflects minimal to no movement in employment-based categories.  As the end of Fiscal Year 2019 (FY2019) approaches on September 30, 2019, visa availability will begin to slow...

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USCIS UPDATE: PREMIUM PROCESSING FOR H-1B CAP-SUBJECT PETITIONS

19:05 10 June in News Updates by Larrabee
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The USCIS issued the below press release, indicating that as of today they will accept premium processing requests for all H-1B Cap-Subject petitions.  A request for premium processing may now be added to an H-1B Cap-Subject petition pending adjudication with USCIS.  The USCIS filing fee is $1,410, for which USCIS will guarantee a response within 15 calendar days.  Note that the response may be an approval, denial, or request for additional evidence. USCIS Press Release June 7, 2019 Premium Processing Begins for Remaining H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions on June 10 On June 10, we will begin premium processing for all remaining FY 2020 H-1B cap-subject...

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New Social Media Question on U.S. Visa Applications

15:05 10 June in News Updates by Larrabee
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The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has updated its DS-160 nonimmigrant visa application and DS-260 immigrant visa application to include a question on social media identifiers.  The item requires applicants to use a drop-down list to indicate the social media platforms they have used during the five years preceding their visa application, and the username, handle, screen-name or other identifiers associated with each account.  The DOS is not requesting passwords and has confirmed it will only review information that users have allowed to be viewable to the public.  The new question is applicable only to visa application forms completed on...

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USCIS Completes Data Entry of Fiscal Year 2020 H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions

19:34 17 May in News Updates by Larrabee
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USCIS issued the following Press Release: May 17, 2019-  USCIS has completed data entry for all fiscal year 2020 H-1B cap-subject petitions selected in our computer-generated random selection process, including those selected under the U.S. advanced degree exemption. As in previous years, we will now begin returning all H-1B cap-subject petitions that we did not select and will issue an announcement once we are done notifying petitioners. Due to the volume of filings, we cannot provide a definite time frame for returning unselected petitions. We ask petitioners to wait to inquire about the status of their cap-subject petitions until they receive...

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FY2020 H-1B CAP UPDATES

22:50 15 April in News Updates by Larrabee
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Caps reached USCIS received 201,011 H-1B petitions during the filing period, which began April 1, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption. USCIS announced on April 5 that it had received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H-1B regular cap of 65,000.    For a sense of how the filing numbers compare to prior years:  In FY2019, USCIS received 190,098 petitions; in FY2019, 199,000; in FY2017, 236,000. Lottery conducted On April 10, USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process to select enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally-mandated regular cap and the U.S. advanced degree exemption for fiscal year (FY) 2020. After completing...

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USCIS Announces Changes to Premium Processing for FY2020 Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions

22:41 19 March in News Updates by Larrabee
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What's new? U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) resumed premium processing on Tuesday, March 12 for all H-1B petitions.   Today USCIS announced exceptions for FY2020 Cap-Subject H-1B petitions (petitions which will be filed beginning April 1, 2019). Per  USCIS, premium processing will be offered in two phases during the FY 2020 cap season so USCIS can manage the premium processing requests without fully suspending it as they did in previous years. The first phase will include FY 2020 cap-subject H-1B petitions requesting a change of status; the second phase will include all other FY 2020 cap-subject petitions. Cap-subject H-1B petitions requesting a...

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