USCIS has announced the timeline for FY2022 H-1B registration. The online registration system will open on March 9, 2021. Petitioning employers need to complete the H-1B registrations and pay the registration fees between noon EST March 9, 2021 and noon EDT March 25, 2021. It should be noted that only an employer, or its attorney, can register the candidates for H-1B selection. Employee candidates cannot register themselves. The result of the lottery is expected to be updated

A Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Revised Final Rule (the revised rule) yesterday which incorporated the 10/08 Interim Final Rule. Although the prevailing wage levels under the revised rule are not as high as initially sought by DOL in the 10/08 rule, it still will significantly increase the prevailing wage levels for H-1B, E-3, and H-1B1 and PERM cases. Specifically, the following shows how much the increases are compared to previous wage levels: Level I Wage: current -17

The DHS published a Final Rule this morning that prioritizes the selection of H-1B registrations based on employers who pay the highest wages, replacing the current random selection process with a new wage-based selection process. Under the final rule, the H-1B selection will prioritize the highest OES prevailing wage level, starting with the highest wage level IV, and then continuing to select cases in descending order from OES wage levels III, II and I. This means that with

The Department of Labor (DOL) made an announcement today on the steps it will take to comply with the federal court ruling issued on 12/01/2020 invalidating both DOL Prevailing Wage Interim Final Rule and DHS H-1B Specialty Occupation Interim Final Rule. DOL plans to revert to the OES prevailing wage online data which was applicable before the prevailing wage increase on 10/08/2020 (“original OES prevailing wage data”), and the Implementation timeframe is as follows: The or

A federal district court in California issued a ruling today setting aside both DOL Prevailing Wage Interim Final Rule and DHS H-1B Specialty Occupation Interim Final Rule. The DOL Prevailing Wage Interim Final Rule which took effect on 10/08/2020 changed the prevailing wage levels for H-1B, E-3, and H-1B1 and PERM cases, resulting in higher OES-based prevailing wages. Today’s court ruling is immediately effective, invalidating the DOL and DHS rules, but the government is ex

A Department of Labor (DOL) Interim Final Rule (the new rule) which took effect yesterday (10/08/2020) changes the prevailing wage levels for H-1B, E-3, and H-1B1 and PERM cases, resulting in higher OES-based prevailing wages. Specifically, the following shows how much the increases are compared to previous wage levels: Level I Wage: 45th percentile (from 17th percentile) Level II Wage: 62nd percentile (from 34th percentile) Level III Wage: 78th percentile (from 50th percenti

USCIS Has Resumed Selecting More H-1B Registrations USCIS has already resumed selecting more H-1B registrations for this year. We have noticed that some cases where the H-1B registrations were not selected in March 2020 but were selected this week. This is great news for H-1B candidates who were not selected earlier in March. We would like to remind employers to double check the H-1B registration status in your myUSCIS account for any updates. If a candidate is selected, yo

As you may have already noticed, the August EB2 Mainland China cut-off date for is 1/15/2016 and EB3 Mainland China cut-off date is 2/15/2017. If you applied for EB-2 and your priority date is before 2/15/2017, downgrading your EB-2 to EB-3 may be worth considering. What’s the Benefit of Downgrading My EB-2 to EB-3? The main reason for the downgrade is to enable you to file I-485 adjustment of status application. With I-485 filed, you and your family members will get the Em

As US-China relations have continued to deteriorate, the risk of holding a US green card has increased sharply for many people. How should "global citizens" respond to risks and optimize their immigration statuses and tax arrangements for upcoming years? The solution may lie in the citizenship programs of Caribbean countries, which can provide many with flexibility in both international travel and tax planning. There are five Caribbean countries offering Citizenship by Inves

After the previous proclamation on April 22, 2020 suspending immigration, President Donald Trump announced new plans today to suspend the entry of certain non-immigrant visa holders in response to the COVID-19 crisis as an effort to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic on the U.S. economy and labor force. The order to suspend and limit the entry of non-immigrant visa holders will go into effect on June 24, 12:01 AM EDT, and extend until December 31, 2020. It may be furth

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause major changes, many employers have been forced to shut down or modify their businesses

Monday night, April 20, 2020, President Donald Trump announced his plans to suspend immigration in response to the COVID-19 crisis as an effort to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic on the U.S. economy and labor force. On Wednesday, April 22, 2020, the President announced the order to suspend and limit the entry of certain aliens as immigrants for 60 days starting on 11:59pm on April 23, 2020. The limitation restricts specifically aliens currently outside the US who d

Today, USCIS’s new H-1B cap registration system is open for employers to sign-up. If your company plans to sponsor H-1B workers for employment this year, then the employer must set up a registration account. To set up an account, go to https://my.uscis.gov/ and sign up as instructed. After you create the password and set up the security questions, go to the Account Type page and choose “H-1B Registrant” as your account type. The other choices are not for H-1Bs. Make a reco

Last Friday, USCIS announced that the long-anticipated H-1B electronic registration system will be implemented for fiscal year 2021, with the first registration period from March 1 through March 20, 2020. Highlights Employers must electronically register and pay $10 H-1B registration free before filing any petition. Each beneficiary must have a separate registration and be named in the registration. USCIS will randomly select from total registrations based on number of regist

Travel can also bring up many questions, especially when it comes to I-94 expiration.

On January 30th 2019, DHS announced the final decision on its proposed changes to H-1B cap-subject petitions. The two crucial decisions are as follows: Beginning on April 1st 2019, the cap-selection order reversal will apply to FY 2020 petitions, in which the regular lottery will be chosen before the advanced-degree lottery. This decision is meant to improve the lottery chances for applicants holding a Master’s degree or higher, with an estimated increase of up to 16% (~5,340

After instating a suspension of premium processing for all H-1B visas last April, USCIS extended it in September to an estimated end date of February 19, 2019. Fortunately, USCIS has lifted this suspension as of January 28, 2019 for certain H-1B petitions. This includes H-1B 2019 Cap petitions, meaning both Regular and Masters Quota petitions. Any employers wanting to expedite their fiscal year 2019 H-1B RFE responses can submit their premium processing request alongside thei

Proposal Overview On December 3rd, USCIS published a proposal to regulate a new registration system for H-1B, in which employers must pre-register for the cap selection system online and the order of the advance-degree and regular lotteries will be swapped. Public feedback on the proposal will be accepted for 30 days starting from the proposal being published. FY 2020 Cap Filings USCIS is aiming to have new system in place for FY 2020 cap season beginning in April 1, 2019. I