Recent college graduates in F-1 status are sometimes able to bridge the time between the expiration of their optional practical training (OPT) and the October 1st start date of H1B status through a benefit known as "cap gap" OPT. This benefit extends the OPT period...
This evening, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that premium processing of H1B cap petitions requesting a change of status will begin on May 20, 2019. This means that, within 15 calendar days of May 20, the USCIS will take some adjudicative action...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that premium processing for H1B petitions being filed for the fiscal year 2020 cap (i.e., H1B lottery) "…will be offered in a two-phased approach." The first phase will be for cap-subject petitions being filed requesting a change...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that, beginning Tuesday, March 12, 2019, premium processing service again will be made available for all H1B petitions. Premium processing provides a guarantee that the USCIS will take some adjudicative action on the H1B petition within...
As the H1B cap season for fiscal year 2020 (FY20) draws near, more and more inquiries are coming into the Murthy Law Firm from employers and foreign nationals who want to know whether an individual may be the beneficiary of more than one H1B cap-subject...
Today, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has completed the randomized H1B cap lottery selection process. The USCIS reported that it received 190,098 petitions this year, which is a slight reduction from the 199,000 H1B petitions received last year, and is...
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the H1B cap limit for fiscal year 2019 (FY19) has been reached. This applies to both the 65,000 regular H1B cap limit as well as the 20,000 advanced degree (masters) cap exemptions.As the H1B case...
On April 3, 2018, the U.S. Department of Education announced that the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) is once again deemed a nationally recognized accrediting agency. Moreover, this decision applies retroactively to December 12, 2016, which is when the ACICS was stripped...
Long-time followers of MurthyDotCom have likely read some of our articles on the increase in government scrutiny of the hiring and employment practices of U.S. employers. These articles focus on immigration compliance. However, employers of foreign workers also need to concern themselves with general employment...
Congress must pass a spending bill to extend government operations by midnight of March 23, 2018, or else another temporary shutdown of the federal government will go into effect. A government shutdown at this time would be especially problematic because H1B cap season is upon...
