Beginning May 1, 2015, stakeholders must begin using a revised version of the H classification supplement (form I-129), which specifically asks whether the beneficiary of the H1B petition has an ownership interest in the petitioning employer. This disclosure requirement is related to U.S. Citizenship and...
The administrative appeals office (AAO) issued a precedent decision on April 9, 2015, that addresses a key requirement for the employment-based, first preference (EB1) immigrant visa (i.e. green card) category designed for multinational managers and executives. This favorable decision should make it easier for some companies...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has released the May 2015 Visa Bulletin. The cutoff date for the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for India advances yet again, to April 15, 2008. Meanwhile, the cutoff date for the employment-based, third preference (EB3) category for the Philippines...
On April 9, 2015, the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) issued a precedent decision that is expected to prompt many H1B employers to change some long-held practices. The case, Matter of Simeio Solutions, LLC, addresses the issue of relocating an H1B worker to a worksite not listed...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) has issued a notice requesting amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs on a topic that is of tremendous importance to many foreign nationals who are being sponsored for permanent residency (commonly, "green card") by...
On April 13, 2015, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the completion of the H1B random lottery process for fiscal year 2016 (FY16). As previously noted, the total count of about 233,000 greatly exceeded the cap limits, and was substantially higher than the approximately...
This afternoon, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the May 2015 Visa Bulletin. As expected, the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for people born in India and China continues to advance. EB2 India moves ahead by more than seven months, to April 15, 2008. EB2...
On April 13, 2015, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced completion of the H1B cap lottery selection processes. The USCIS reported receipt of almost 233,000 H1B petitions, well in excess of the limits of 65,000 for the regular cap and 20,000 advanced-degree exemptions...
The Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) released a precedent decision today, April 9, 2015, requiring employers to file amended H1B petitions for changes in employment location. The AAO determined that amended H1B petitions are required when employers move H1B workers to locations not listed in their...
From time to time, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) internally reassigns pending cases by moving them from one USCIS service center to another. These case transfers are an effort to balance workloads between service centers. Such a shift was announced at the end...
