ISD Update : Released March 6, 2003
Posted Mar 21, 2003

Payee on Checks

The Immigration Services Division (ISD) of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS or Service) issued detailed guidance regarding the proper payees for filing fee checks. Although the newly-created BCIS can accept checks made payable to a variety of payees, including INS and BCIS, ISD recommends that checks be made payable to the U.S. Treasury or Department of Homeland Security. This contradicts earlier information provided to AILA, which indicated that checks could be payable to either INS or BCIS. While it is expected that a final decision likely will be issued, it appears best for now to make the checks payable to the Department of Homeland Security, though senior officials have stated that they will cash any checks payable to BCIS.

Issues Surrounding H1B "Seventh-Year" Extensions

There is an issue regarding individuals eligible for extensions of H1B status beyond the six-year limitation. As previously reported in the MurthyBulletin and on MurthyDotCom, individuals who are the beneficiaries of labor certifications or I-140s that were filed at least 365 days earlier are eligible for extensions of H1B status beyond the six-year limitation. The question then arises whether it is necessary to use all of the six years prior to requesting the "7^th-year" extension. That is, if an individual has used 5 years of H-1 time, and is the beneficiary of a labor certification filed a year ago, is the individual able to ask for an H1B extension for one year or two? Can s/he request the time to the end of the standard six years, plus the one additional year, or does it need to be done in two separate requests? The INS has taken the position that, in order to request a "7^th-year" extension, the full six years must be utilized. Of course, this is not popular with H1B workers or their employers, as there is extra cost and effort involved.

ISD responded that they have been "leaning toward" keeping the time periods separate but will discuss the issue further. It would seem advantageous to allow individuals to request much time as possible with each request for extension. Otherwise, an individual may be in the unfortunate position of having very little time left in the six-year maximum, possibly only a few weeks, and the employer would be forced to file two H1B petitions. This situation is not uncommon, given the numbers of job changes that individuals have gone through in the current economy. People do not always work the full three years allowed and then ask for another three years, complete that time, and ask for one more. The time periods are far more "chopped up." Given the enormous backlogs in petition processing, it does not make sense to require extra filings since it is time consuming, expensive, and leads to uncertainty for the employers and employees while the H1B petition is pending with the BCIS.