The H-1B visa lottery system is changing fast. And these changes may be a boon for American small businesses and startups and their H-1B candidates. Starting with the April 2020 lottery, employers must now pay a nonrefundable $10 fee to register each candidate for the H-1B lottery. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S.…
If I currently hold an H-1B visa, and my employer is sponsoring me for a green card, how can I change jobs while remaining on the path to a green card? That’s what Chao*, a software engineer who was born in China, recently asked during a consultation with our team at Alcorn Immigration Law. He…
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, has proposed charging a $10 fee to employers to register each H-1B lottery candidate, starting with next year’s lottery. This year, USCIS announced plans to change the H-1B lottery process by requiring employers to electronically pre-register candidates for the annual lottery. For years,…
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has resumed premium processing for all H-1B petitions. However, USCIS will delay premium processing handling for H-1B petitions submitted for this year’s lottery, which opens on April 1. Two Tracks for Premium Processing This year, only H-1B petitioners who are subject to the lottery and are requesting a…
The Alcorn Immigration Law team’s H-1B season began in December. Since then, we’ve been working with employers preparing H-1B visa applications for the April lottery. Given the increased scrutiny, requests for evidence (RFEs), and denials these applications face, employers and H-1B candidates should focus on assembling the strongest petition they can. Delays, uncertainty about visa…
You might assume U.S. employers facing a tight labor market would increasingly look to foreign talent to fill positions. However, the number of H-1B specialty occupation visa applications that employers filed on behalf of workers in the annual lottery has declined nearly 20% since 2016. The Trump administration is having a chilling effect on U.S.…
Yesterday President Trump suggested he might have plans to provide a path to citizenship for H-1B visa holders. Tech employees, young entrepreneurs, startups, and the U.S. economy stand to benefit if this pathway comes to fruition. “H1-B holders in the United States can rest assured that changes are soon coming which will bring both simplicity…
We start gearing up in December with clients for the annual H-1B lottery in April. With U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issuing more Requests for Evidence (RFEs), it’s now more important than ever to get started with preparing an H-1B petition. The Alcorn Immigration Law team continues to win H-1B visas for our clients…
Companies in metro areas in Texas and on the East Coast—not Silicon Valley or San Francisco—employed the most H-1B recipients between 2010 and 2016, according to a Pew Research Center report. By filing a public records request, Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, D.C., obtained the government data on H-1B visa…
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has directed personnel to reject all multiple H-1B petitions filed by related employers for the same beneficiary in the H-1B lottery, which begins on April 2. USCIS publicly released a policy memo this week that offers guidance to personnel in evaluating multiple H-1B petitions for the same prospective employee.…