H-1B Navigators: Preparing for Cap, Registration, and Travel Amid Potential Election-Driven Changes
Law Brief: H-1B Visas – New Process and New (Upcoming) Deadlines
Benesch B-Cast 07: Immigration Deadlines and Demands Employers Need to Know
The U.S. Department of State’s September 2025 Visa Bulletin maintains the same final action dates and dates for filing that were published in the August 2025 Visa Bulletin. However, the State Department cautioned that it...more
The 2025 H-1B cap registration period will begin at 12 p.m. Eastern time on March 7, 2025, and will conclude at 12 p.m. Eastern on March 24, 2025. Prospective petitioners are required to register each beneficiary online and...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published a final rule with key updates to the H-1B specialty occupation nonimmigrant visa program. The final rule is aimed at modernizing the H-1B program by improving efficiency...more
With the second round of the H-1B cap lottery just completed, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has now released statistics for this year’s H-1B cap selections as well as statistics on H-1B...more
On Tuesday, July 30, 2024, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will conduct a second H-1B cap lottery. The agency will select an additional number of H-1B registrations from the remaining...more
Q: Will submitting my registration on the first day increase my odds of selection? A: No. The lottery is conducted randomly after the registration period closes. Your odds for selection will increase with a US master’s or...more
The H-1B visa is among the most popular working visas in the U.S. for individuals filling professional (degree-requiring) positions. Most H-1B visas are subject to an annual quota or “cap.” These are often referred to as...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced March 29, 2022 that it had completed its H-1B random lottery selections after receiving sufficient submissions for its annual H-1B quota during the H-1B...more
Nearly one million lawfully present foreign workers are currently waiting to receive lawful permanent residence status (green card). This backlog is primarily caused by statutorily imposed numerical limits that cap the number...more
USCIS announced on March 17, 2020, the temporary suspension of premium processing service for fiscal year (FY) 2021 cap-subject H-1B petitions. Once USCIS begins accepting cap-subject petitions on April 1, we will not be able...more
Last week, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it had completed pilot testing of its new electronic registration tool and would implement it for the H-1B cap season in 2020. The new electronic...more
On May 20, 2019, USCIS will begin premium processing for cap-subject H-1B cases that were filed concurrently with Form I-907 premium processing requests. Under the Premium Processing Service, USCIS guarantees 15-calendar-day...more
It is the equivalent of the NCAA March Madness for H-1B petitioners and beneficiaries. The fiscal year (FY) 2020 H-1B cap season is officially in full swing....more
On March 19, USCIS made a surprise announcement - it will be phasing in a new two-tiered premium processing procedure and establishing a new H-1B data hub on its website. On April 1, USCIS will commence accepting cap-subject...more
USCIS Proposes New Registration Requirement to File H-1B Cap Petitions for Fiscal Year 2020 and Reverses Order of H-1B Cap Lottery - On December 3, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USICS”) proposed new...more
In recent weeks, several notable policy changes have taken place concerning the adjudication of immigration petitions by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)....more
With the increased focus on foreign language programs — particularly the popularity of immersion programs in which the foreign language is used for instruction rather than as the subject of instruction—schools districts are...more
On May 3rd, USCIS completed all data entry of fiscal year 2018 H-1B cap-subject petitions selected in the computer-generated "lottery" process. The data entry process includes the receipt of petitions selected in the lottery...more
Prospects for passage of any H-1B reform legislation remain low in this politically charged election year....more
In response to Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle’s ruling in Washington Alliance of Technology Workers v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security et al., No. 14-529 (August 12, 2015) that vacated the previous regulations on STEM...more
The United States Citizenship & Immigration Service announced yesterday that it received nearly 233,000 H-1B visa petitions in the first week of the application window for the 85,000 cap-subject visas available for fiscal...more
As in recent years, the strong demand for H-1B visas for scientists, engineers, computer programmers, and other foreign workers in so-called “specialty occupations” again led employers in the United States to file petitions...more
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reached the congressionally mandated H-1B cap for fiscal year 2016. It also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the U.S. advanced...more
On April 1, 2015, the United States Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting petitions for H-1B visas that are subject to annual quotas for the 2016 fiscal year (which would allow employees to start...more
This Alert is a reminder to employers of the fast approaching April 1, 2015 deadline for filing H-1B work visa petitions on behalf of foreign employees who need sponsorship for long-term work authorization in the U.S. ...more