The H-1B visa is among the most popular working visas in the U.S. for individuals filling professional positions. Most H-1B visas are subject to an annual quota or “cap.” Because demand exceeds the number of available visas,...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has completed its annual H-1B cap lottery selection process for fiscal year 2025. Given the high number of lottery registrations and the fixed number of...more
Beginning March 6, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will conduct its annual H-1B Cap Lottery to award H-1B slots for professional workers in specialty occupations. There are a total of 85,000 visas...more
The statutory limit of H-1Bs available per fiscal year is 65,000 for those who have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, with 6,800 reserved for citizens of Chile and Singapore. An additional 20,000 are reserved for those who...more
Each year in March, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) conducts a lottery to award H-1B slots to enough foreign workers to meet its 85,000 visa annual cap. This number includes 20,000 slots reserved for...more
Many F-1 OPT foreign nationals have been approved for H-1B status effective October 1st in this year’s H-1B lottery Employers and F-1 workers should be careful during the transition from F-1 to H-1B status to ensure they...more
Registration Dates Announced and Rule Prioritizing Selection of Highest Wage-Level Delayed - On February 5, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the initial registration period for the...more
On Friday, February 5, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the initial registration period for the FY2022 H-1B Cap Lottery will begin on March 9, 2021. ...more
In 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued final rules making a number of changes to the H-1B visa lottery process. This Holland & Knight alert highlights key differences in the 2020 process and answers...more
U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed it will utilize a new electronic registration system for the Fiscal Year 2021 H-1B lottery. By way of background, the H-1B visa program allows companies in the United...more
Employers will have to decide who they are sponsoring earlier this year. For a brief background, H-1B work visas are the most common work visas for foreign nationals in professional positions (which are jobs requiring at...more
Last week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that an H-1B cap registration system (from which the annual H-1B lottery will be run) will be implemented for the upcoming fiscal year 2021 H-1B cap...more
Many U.S. employers have recently experienced frustration over legal obstacles to keeping high quality foreign-national employees. These valuable employees have often been with the company since finishing a degree and...more
As of April 1, 2019, U.S. employers requesting a change of status for H-1B hopefuls should request Premium Processing by concurrently filing visa petitions with Form I-907...more
On March 19, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that it will accept premium processing requests (i.e., Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service) for fiscal year (“FY”) 2020 H-1B cap...more
On April 1, 2019, USCIS will begin accepting cap subject H-1B professional worker petitions for a start date of October 1, 2019 (FY2020). Due to the high demand for H-1B visas and newly proposed rulemaking for cap-subject...more
For immigration attorneys and employers of foreign nationals alike, the frenzy of the spring H-1B Cap season is right around the corner. Now is the time to start preparations for the April filing deadline....more
On April 1, 2018, USCIS will begin accepting cap subject H-1B professional worker petitions for a start date of October 1, 2018. Due to the high demand for H-1B visas, we encourage employers to take time now to identify any...more
The October 1st start date for H-1B cap-subject petitions is rapidly approaching. Foreign nationals who were selected in this year's H-1B lottery and their petitioning companies should remember several key points about the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On September 18, 2017, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that effective immediately it would resume premium processing for H-1B petitions filed subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: USCIS recently announced that the agency will temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1B petitions beginning on April 3, 2017. USCIS indicates the purpose of the suspension is to process H-1B...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it will suspend Premium Processing of all H-1B filings starting on April 3, 2017. This includes all Fiscal Year 2018 H-1B cap filings, as well as H-1B...more
This advisory summarizes key travel and employment issues if you are an F-1 student with Optional Practical Training (OPT) employment eligibility and an H-1B change of status filing on your behalf has been accepted by US...more
The USCIS received over 236,000 H-1B petitions during this year’s FY2017 filing period for the annual supply of 85,000 new H-1B visas (65,000 for regular cap plus an additional 20,000 for workers with a U.S. Master’s degree)....more