The FY 2025 H1B Cap registration period will begin on March 6, 2024 and end on March 22, 2024! Prospective petitioners and their representatives will be able to complete and submit their H-1B Cap registrations using the online H-1B registration system starting on March 6th. A $10 non-refundable H-1B registration fee will be required to be paid for each beneficiary. Employers seeking to file H-1B Cap petitions in the FY 2025 H1B Cap must complete the H-1B Cap registration process electronically using a myUSCIS online account during this initial registration period. On February 28, 2024, USCIS w ..read more

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has announced a pilot program to resume domestic or stateside visa renewals for certain qualified H-1B non-immigrant visa applicants. The following are some of the key features of the pilot program: 1.At this time, the pilot program is limited only to H–1B applicants. DOS will not process any other visa classifications, including H–4s, during the pilot phase. 2.Participation in this pilot is strictly limited to foreign nationals on H-1B visa classification who satisfy the following conditions: Their prior H-1B visa that is being renewed was issued by a U ..read more

USCIS will soon conduct a second H-1B lottery for FY 2024! USCIS has announced that it will soon conduct a second H-1B lottery from among the H-1B cap registrations submitted against the FY 2024 H-1B cap. USCIS will select additional registrations from among the registrations submitted in March 2023. USCIS, however, has not announced the specific date on which the H-1B lottery would be conducted. After the H-1B lottery is conducted, USCIS will upload the Selection Notice in the myUSCIS accounts of petitioners whose registrations are selected in the second round, and the Selection Notice will c ..read more

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it has received sufficient number of petitions needed to reach the FY 2023 H1B cap. USCIS has received sufficient number of petitions needed to reach both the statutory annual H1B Cap of 65,000 under the general category, as well as the 20,000 under the U.S. advanced degree exemption category (popularly known as the “H1B Masters Cap”). USCIS has also completed sending non-selection notifications to registrants’ online accounts and the status for registrations properly submitted, but not selected in the FY 2023 H1B lottery, is ..read more

USCIS has extended the flexibilities that are currently made available to applicants and petitioners in certain response and appeal submissions. USCIS will, for Requests for Evidence (RFEs) and Notices of Intent to Deny (NOIDs) dated till October 23, 2022, consider any responses submitted within 60 calendar days after the response deadline mentioned in the RFE or NOID, before taking any action. The flexibility is available to petitioners and requestors who are responding to: Requests for Evidence; Continuations to Request Evidence (N-14); Notices of Intent to Deny; Notices of Intent to Revoke ..read more

USCIS has announced a Temporary Final Rule (TFR) that increases the automatic extension period for employment authorization and Employment Authorization Documents (EADs), available to certain EAD renewal applicants, to up to 540 days. The increase will be effective on May 4, 2022, and will apply only to those EAD categories currently eligible for an automatic extension of up to 180 days. The TFR provides up to 360 days of additional automatic extension time to eligible applicants with a timely-filed Form I-765 renewal application, for a total of up to 540 days. Under the provisions of the TFR ..read more

USCIS has received 483,927 H-1B registrations from over 48,000 prospective petitioners towards the FY 2023 H-1B cap. The number of registrations received, and the number of selections made in the H-1B lottery are as below: FY 2023 FY 2022 Total Registrations 483,927 308,613 Selections in First H-1B Lottery 127,600 87,500 Selections in Second H-1B Lottery No additional selections announced yet 27,717 Selections in Third H-1B Lottery No additional selections announced yet 16,753 Total Selections 127,600 131,970 USCIS calculates the number of petitions needed to meet the H-1B ca ..read more

USCIS has received enough H-1B cap registrations during the initial registration period to reach the FY 2023 H-1B regular cap and H-1B master’s cap. USCIS has also conducted the H-1B lottery and has notified employers with selected registrations that they are eligible to file an H-1B cap petition for the beneficiary named in the selected registration. Only petitioners with selected registrations may file the FY 2023 H-1B cap petitions, and only for the beneficiary named in the H-1B registration selection notice. H-1B cap petitions based on a valid, selected registration may be filed with USCIS ..read more

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a final rule to expand the categories of petitions and applications eligible for Premium Processing services. Currently, expedited adjudication under Premium Processing services is available only to petitioners filing a Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, and to certain petitioners filing a Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers. Under the new final rule, availability of Premium Processing services is proposed to be expanded to certain additional classifications under Form I-140, as well as certain applications to extend ..read more

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have begun issuing Forms I-94 with a new Class of Admission (COA) codes for certain E and L spouses. The new COA codes – E-1S, E-2S, E-3S, or L-2S – have been added to distinguish between E and L spouses and children, and to address the documentation that certain E and L nonimmigrant spouses may use as evidence of employment authorization based on their nonimmigrant status. An unexpired Form I-94 bearing one of the new COA codes is acceptable as evidence of employment authorization for spouses under ..read more