The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has made a few revisions to form I-129, the petition for a nonimmigrant worker. The most notable change is the addition of a question on the H classification supplement, which asks, "Does any beneficiary in this petition have...
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has released statistical data on labor condition applications (LCAs) filed by U.S. employers sponsoring H1B workers during fiscal year 2014 (FY14). The statistics provide data on the overall number of filings, as well as...
Top officials from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) participated in an October 9, 2014 meeting with an American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) committee on immigration benefits. One key topic discussed during that meeting was the current state of the H1B and L-1 Administrative...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) generally prohibits a company from filing multiple cap-subject H1B petitions for a single beneficiary in the same cap year. Related companies also face such restrictions, with some exceptions, but this aspect of the rule appears to have gone...
On July 11, 2014, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrant Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum that provides updated guidance to adjudicators to determine whether a particular nursing position meets the H1B category's specialty occupation requirement. This issue was last addressed by the USCIS in 2002. The...
The Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) 2014 Annual Report was submitted to Congress on June 27, 2014. The report details various deficiencies found within the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), according to the Ombudsman's office, including problems with H1B and L-1 processing...
Many foreign nationals are anxiously awaiting news related to the proposed rules that would make certain H-4 spouses eligible to apply for employment authorization documents (EADs). It remains unclear when - or even if - the proposal will go into effect. However, the deadline for...
With approvals coming in for cap-subject H1B petitions filed for fiscal year (FY) 2015 and those selected in the lottery, we have been receiving calls from H1B beneficiaries and employers, seeking clarification on how early they can apply for H1B visas based on approvals received...
On Monday, June 2, 2014, the Murthy Law Firm received our first batch of returned H1B filings for cases that were not selected in this year's H1B lottery. More than two weeks have passed since our firm last received any new receipt notices for H1B...
A U.S. federal district court recently ruled on a case involving an issue that is a vital component of every H1B petition. The H1B classification is only appropriate for positions that qualify as "specialty occupations." In the case at hand, CareMax Inc. v. Eric Holder,...
