U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provided petitioning employers and prospective alien beneficiaries an update today on its process of issuing cap-subject H-1B visas for fiscal year 2018. Now that the agency has completed its computer-generated lottery and data entry to award the statutory maximum of 65,000 H-1Bs, plus an additional 20,000 for foreign workers with at least a master’s degree from a U.S. university, it will return cap-subject petitions that were not selected.

Given the volume of applications received this cycle—a less-than-expected but nonetheless sizable total of 199,000 this year, as we noted in a previous article—USCIS cautioned applicants that there is no definitive timeframe for when their unselected petitions will be returned. The agency noted that it will make an additional announcement once all these are sent back, adding that, in the interim, applicants should refrain from inquiring about the status of their petitions.

USCIS additionally announced that it is in the process of transferring some cap-subject petitions from the Vermont Service Center to the California Service Center in an attempt to more evenly distribute selected applications to be processed. Applicants whose petitions are transferred will be notified, after which they should correspond only with the center processing their applications.

As we informed our readers last month, USCIS will continue to process H-1B petitions that aren’t factored into the cap, which includes petitions for H-1B employees who have been counted toward the annual cap previously and retained their cap numbers. Among the additional types of H-1B petitions USCIS will continue to adjudicate are those seeking to prolong the time current H-1B beneficiaries can remain in the U.S., to alter current H-1B workers’ employment terms, to permit current H-1B employees to change employers, and to permit current H-1B employees to work concurrently under a second H-1B petition.

Note that the temporary suspension of premium processing for both cap-subject and cap-exempt petitions remains in effect. As such, USCIS will continue to reject any and all I-907s filed with H-1B petitions.

As more information becomes available, updates will be published on our news section.

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Former U.S. Consular officer, Attorney Sechyi Laiu joined Zhang & Associates, P.C. on June 26, 2017

At Zhang & Associates, P.C., Attorney Laiu specializes on Consular Processing cases and business development. Attorney Laiu also focuses on TN visas, E visas, CBP administrative proceedings (monetary confiscation, deferred inspection), and overseas financial compliance.

Prior to joining Zhang & Associates, P.C., Attorney Laiu worked for the U.S. Department of State as a Chinese and Portuguese speaking diplomat. As a consular-coned officer who served in Vancouver (Canada), Shenyang (P.R. China), and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Attorney Laiu processed over 30,000 visa cases and worked in every section of Consular Affairs overseas (Fraud Prevention Unit, Immigrant Visas, Non-Immigrant Visas, and American Citizen Services).

He will use his experience and expertise to deliver the highest quality of service to our clients.

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Founded in 1996, Zhang & Associates, P.C. offers legal services to clients nationwide in all aspects of U.S immigration law. We have successfully handled thousands of immigration cases.

At Zhang & Associates, P.C., our attorneys and supporting professionals are committed to providing high-quality immigration and non-immigration visa services. We specialize in NIW, EB-1, PERM, and I-485 cases. In the past twenty years, we have successfully helped thousands of clients get green cards. If you plan to apply for a green card, please send your CV to Attorney Jerry Zhang (info@hooyou.com) for a free evaluation.

Zhang & Associates, P.C.

Silicon Valley • New York • Los Angeles • Chicago • Houston • Austin • Seattle • Madison

Tel:	1-800-230-7040, 713-771-8433
Email:	info@hooyou.com
website:	http://www.hooyou.com

 

(05/04/2017)