O'Brien & Associates | Attorneys At Law

Washington Post: Outline of Immigration Bill Released

webmaster — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:36:51 +0000

The bipartisan “Gang of Eight” immigration reform bill has been introduced to the Senate today. The bill provides for a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented living and working in the United States. After his briefing by Senators Chuck Schumer (D., NY) and John McCain (R., AZ), President Obama has declared his support for the bill.

For a full outline of the bill, see the Washington Post article here.

H-1B Lottery Update

webmaster — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:06:45 +0000

USCIS has started the data entry process for H-1B petitions selected in the lottery. Premium processing cases are being handled first; data entry for those cases is expected to have been completed by April 15, with the 2-week turnaround starting from that date. The data entry for non-premium processing cases will begin subsequently. Data entry for non-premium cases will likely not be completed until sometime in May, and rejection notices for petitions not selected in the lottery will be sent out after that. Please note that when the cap was reached on the first day in 2008, USCIS did not complete data entry and issue receipt notices until late in May. Non-premium processing cases can only be converted to premium processing after a receipt notice is issued.

H-1B Cap and Lottery Update

webmaster — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 17:49:36 +0000

USCIS has conducted the H-1B visa lottery but results are still largely unknown. About a third more petitions than H1B visas available were received and those cases which were expedited at an additional cost of $1225 are the first to be receipted, indicating they have “won” the lottery. Cases filed for regular processing have generally not yet been receipted nor have any rejections yet been issued. It’s likely to take another week or so for the true picture to emerge.

H1B Cap Reached

webmaster — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:36:09 +0000

USCIS announced late Friday that the H1B quota has already been reached for fiscal year 2014, marking the quickest closing of the quota since 2008.

Petitions submitted will now placed in a computer generated random selection process or “lottery” on a day to be confirmed (hopefully later this week), to determine who will receive the 65,000 allotted visas, as well as the additional 20,000 visas reserved for those holding Master’s degrees from U.S. institutions.

For more details, see the USCIS website:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=5051f359827dd310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e7801c2c9be44210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

The Economist: Raising H1B Cap Will Help US Economy

webmaster — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:43:05 +0000

An interesting article in the Economist makes the argument that the current H1B cap of 65,000 visas is not sufficient to meet the needs of corporate America, and boosting the quota to the previous level of 195,000 will create jobs and spur innovation:

“FOR the first time in five years, America’s immigration service will hold a lottery to allocate the visas it makes available to foreigners recruited by private business to work in the country. This is because applications for the 65,000 H1B visas it issues to corporate America each fiscal year, starting on April 1st, were expected to exceed the number available by April 5th. Five days is not the record for reaching the cap on business visas. In 2007 it took one day and, in 2008, two.”

For the full article, click here.

NY Times: House Bill to Offer Three Paths to Citizenship

webmaster — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:12:08 +0000

From the New York Times, April 2nd:

“In the shadow of a bipartisan Senate group preparing to roll out broad immigration legislation next week, shortly after Congress returns from its holiday break, a bipartisan group of eight House members is readying its own bill.

In contrast to the Senate plan — which would provide one clear, if difficult, path to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country — the House legislation will most likely offer three distinct paths to legal status.”

For the full article, click here.

Deferred Action Inquiries Leading to Other Options

webmaster — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:05:16 +0000

AILA President Laura Lichter told the New York Times that “one of the very good things” to come out of DACA is the significant number of immigrants who discover they are eligible for another type of relief when they discuss their situation with counsel.

For the full article, click here.

New Visa Program for Low-Skilled Workers

webmaster — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:03:17 +0000

According to The Washington Post, labor and business leaders have agreed in principle on the details of a new visa program for low-skilled foreign workers, clearing the last major hurdle for a bipartisan Senate immigration reform proposal.

For the full article, click here.

H-1B Cap – No Update Expected Until Next Week

webmaster — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:00:09 +0000

As USCIS continues to accept H-1B petitions for filing through Friday, April 5^th, it is unlikely we will have any indication of the numbers received and/or whether the quota was reached causing petitions to go into a lottery system until early next week. Conflicting predictions abound, and USCIS has fueled the fire by offering its own recent prediction that the cap would be reached within the first week – perhaps a self-fulfilling prophecy. See here for future updates.

Non-Immigrant Visa Fees Adjusted for Currency

webmaster — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:24:01 +0000

US DOS has rolled back its previous currency adjustment for non-immigrant visa processing fees, effective March 26. For a full list of the new fees, check the Dublin Embassy website here.