H-1B AMENDMENTS TO THE IMMIGRATION LAW DO NOT PASS JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

Last week I reported on a number of proposed changes to the H-1B visa rules that are part of the new immigration law proposal by the Gang of Eight.
The discussions were part of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s markup of the bill. Senators pitched several amendments, including positive ones such as from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) to increase the limit five-fold to 300,000, after he called the legislation as a “a step in the right direction" but not nearly enough even with the cap of 180,000 being “arbitrarily low.” However, this amendment was voted down 15-4 by the committee.
There were also amendments by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), calling to ease the extra requirements for H-1B employers this new bill would impose, saying the U.S. cannot supply enough skilled workers, but this also feel through.
So right now the original proposals is staying in the bill markup.

HIGH TECH COMPANIES PUSH FOR H-1B AMENDMENT IN SENATE BILL

Another clash between two interest groups in Washington, D.C. as the debate over immigration reform continues.
What is going on with mark-ups in the Senate on the immigration reform bill is that High-tech companies that need to bring more skilled workers to the U.S. are pushing for more concessions. The main issue of contention between the high tech groups and the unions is proposals by one of the bill's sponsors Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) to add a number of restrictions on the program first, including trying to recruit for U.S. workers first. While the overall goal of the legislation is good, and will increase the number of H-1B visas, the price to pay for these amendments may be too high for many companies that use this visa to recruit talent, especially in IT, computer software, engineering, and other positions in shortage.
However, the labor unions claim that Silicon Valley had already gotten enough in the legislation and further changes risked chipping away at protections for U.S. workers. This argument is ridiculous because unemployment in these occupations is generally less than 3% which is nothing more than people moving between jobs in normal economical terms. The reason that Sen. Durbin added these restriction to the bill in the first place was to garner wide support especially from the unions for passage of the bill.
Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah has stepped up to help the tech companies, proposing many amendments to help ease the requirements of the H-1B visa program, not increase them. He may be a swing vote on the immigration bill so the bill sponsors would like to get his support, and Utah is becoming a major high-tech employer.
The good thing about the bill would be that the H-1B cap would be raised from the current 65,000 annually to 110,000, with the potential to adjust upward to 180,000 depending on how many visa applications are received and what the unemployment rate is. However, High-tech companies say the unemployment rate should not be a factor because it might not reflect actual demand for skilled workers, which especially in IT has historically been very low. There is also concern that the companies would have to recruit U.S. workers first, a condition that is not required under the law right now. It makes sense for H-1B dependent employers which are those who have a large percentage of H-1B workers but not on most employers whose H-1B employees rate is less than 15%.
Other positive provisions in the bill exempt advanced degrees STEM graduates from U.S. schools, from annual limits on the permanent resident visas and creates a new visa for foreign entrepreneurs coming to the U.S. to start companies. Overall the bill is good but the restrictions on H-1B employment should go away.

USCIS FINISHED ENTERING H-1B RECEIPTS FOR FY2014 - IS SENDING REJECTION NOTICES

AILA reports that USCIS Service Center Operations indicated that as of Friday, May 10th all data entry was completed and receipt notices have been sent. If receipt notices are not issued or received, it probably means that the case was rejected or not selected in the lottery for H-1B cases for FY2014.
Rejection notices have also started to be sent out and they request to allow until the end of May for delivery of receipt or rejection notices.

CBP DOES AWAY WITH I-94S

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) started implementing the automated version of Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record, at air and sea ports of entry. Implementation will continue across the nation through May 21, to include air and sea ports of entry that support international arrivals.
CBP will stop giving away I-94s and instead stamp each foreign national's passport with the entry date, admission status and expiration date listed on the admission stamp and enter all their data into the electronic system. The individuals will be able to access their electronic Form I-94 by visiting www.cbp.gov/I94 and print out their I-94s.
As evidence of lawful admission submitted with a benefit request, USCIS will accept the electronic Form I-94 in paper format obtained from CBP’s website as equivalent to the paper versions of Form I-94. In lieu of submitting the electronic Form I-94 in paper format, USCIS will also accept photocopies of the passport pages that contain the individual’s biographical information, visa and admission stamp.
We'll have to wait and see how smooth this process will actually be...

SOME NON-CAP H-1B CASES TAKE 30 DAYS OR MORE FOR RECEIPTS

AILA is reporting that NCSC has indicated that non-cap H-1B and other Form I-129 receipting is taking 30 days or more.
AILA Liaison is raising the reported delay in receipting with service centers and Service Center Operations at USCIS HQ. This is a problem for visa extension, AC21 portability for H-1B cases etc. so it must be addressed very quickly - even E-Verify may not match if there is no new receipt.
I will update as I know more.
Another H-1B cap update as of today we have received all but a few of the H-1B cap case receipts and even a few approval notices for NON-PREMIUM H-1B cap cases! This is amazing speed from USCIS!

BILL GATES, STEVE BALLMER, BRAD SMITH AND SEAN PARKER JOIN ZUCKERBERG SUPERPAC

In a great move of support for Mark Zuckerberg's new SuperPac or political advocacy group for immigration reform called FWD.us four tech giants have joined to render their names and support: Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Brad Smith (CEO of Intuit) and Sean Parker (Napster's co-founder who also helped Zuckerberg in the early Facebook days).
It's a great show of support for the topic Zuckerberg is spearheading and a great opportunity for these technology giants to put their money where their mouths are... Two thumbs up!
http://allthingsd.com/20130426/please-welcome-bill-gates-steve-ballmer-brad-smith-and-sean-parker-to-the-zuckerpac/

H-1B RECEIPTS SLOWLY TRICKLING

So far we have received all of our U.S. master's cap H-1B cases filed on the April 1 week. Our clients with the U.S. master's cap were very lucky and they all got selected in the lottery.
Now we are slowly also getting cases from the regular H-1B cap, but only a small percentage so far of receipt notices compared to the cases that we filed.
USCIS expects to send receipt notices well into May for cap cases.
I hope our H-1B regular cap clients are as lucky as the master's ones!
Update soon to follow.