Photo by Joey Csunyo on Unsplash Here’s another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies. “Your questions are vital to the spread of knowledge that allows people all over the world to rise above borders and pursue their dreams,” says Sophie Alcorn, a Silicon Valley immigration attorney.…
If you’re a startup founder or a recruiter looking to hire someone from overseas to be physically working in your company within the United States, there are steps you need to consider in preparing your company for the H-1B process. 1. Your company needs to be formed. Under the U.S. immigration law, the best…
Every year, USCIS makes its decision in the annual H-1B lottery for new professionals to get sponsored by companies for temporary work visas. If you or your employee, as the candidate, have already gotten through the lottery, why waste your chance with creating a simplistic H-1B that is likely to fail? Now is the time…
The H-1B visa is specifically for foreign workers in specialty occupations such as software engineers, lawyers, accountants, UX designers. It’s for people who have a bachelor’s degree in a job-related field or an equivalent amount of work experience. Because the demand has far exceeded the supply, a lottery process has been put into place over…
U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has moved up the date for the annual H-1B lottery by one month. For years, the annual H-1B lottery has kicked off on April 1, with employers submitting H-1B petitions for current or prospective employees. The lottery ended once USCIS received enough H-1B petitions to meet the annual 85,000…
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…