Filing season for all H-1B applications subject to the annual cap is coming right up.  There are 85,000 annual H-1B visas available for highly skilled foreign workers in specialty occupations, 20,000 reserved for applicants with master’s degrees or higher.  Last year, USCIS received 484,000 registrations.  USCIS selected 127,600 to submit

The Biden Administration’s Proposed Rule, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fee Schedule Changes to Certain Other Immigration Benefit Request Requirements, CIS No. 2687-21; DHS Docket No. USCIS 2021-0010 is scheduled to be read on January 11, 2023 for a listening session with the final rule and changes taking effect after

Complex RFEs are a perennial issue facing H-1B applicants.  With the New Year right around the corner, it’s time for H-1B beneficiaries and their sponsors to start to work out the logistics of their cases.  This should include strategies to prevent complex RFEs. These occur when USCIS sees one red

When Meta laid off 13% of its work force this month, many of those 11,000 employees had their H-1B visas rendered invalid.  They now have two months to either find another job under H-1B status, apply for a different visa, or leave the country.  Some were traveling abroad at the

The opioid crisis in the United States continues to claim lives every day, and a primary culprit of the mortality rate of this crisis is fentanyl.  Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 100 times more potent than morphine, classified as a Schedule II substance.  While it can be prescribed under close

A perennial RFE issue for H-1B beneficiaries is mismatched education.  This is an easy trap to fall into, and one that you can fall into in multiple ways, occurring when the beneficiary’s education is anything but a bachelor’s degree or higher from a US accredited academic institution with a major

One glaring problem in an H-1B petition can quickly escalate into a complex, timely, and costly ordeal.  The Triple Threat RFE can be triggered when USCIS sees one red flag which leads to your petition being scrutinized until every little thing becomes an issue – or in this case wage

Earlier this year, USCIS announced that steps would be taken to increase visa processing efficiency, reduce wait times for petitioners, and generally reduce the overburdened legal immigration system.  As part of this plan, USCIS has committed to expanding eligibility for premium processing over the course of 2022 to include the

The EB-2 and EB-3, two employment-based visas, are the most sought-after visas.  This year, there were extra employment-based visas rolled over from unused family-based visas from the COVID-19 Pandemic due to worldwide embassy closures. EB-2 visas carry an advanced degree requirement, meaning the beneficiary must hold a US master’s degree

In total, around 484,000 H-1B electronic registrations were submitted and 127,600 were selected in the lottery in March of 2022.  Those selected were invited to submit complete H-1B petitions.  USCIS selects a buffer number of extra registrations to account for those who opt to not submit petitions and those whose