Friday, January 28, 2011

USCIS REACHES FY 2011 H-1B CAP

USCIS just announced that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year (FY) 2011. January 26, 2011, is the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY2011.
USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B workers in FY2011 that arrive after Jan. 26, 2011. USCIS will apply a computer-generated random selection process to all petitions that are subject to the cap and were received on January 26, 2011 in order to select petitions needed to meet the cap. USCIS will reject all remaining cap-subject petitions not randomly selected and will return the accompanying filing fees.
Too bad... we were hoping for a few more days' leeway but that's out of anyone's control.

Monday, January 24, 2011

USCIS UPDATES H-1B CAP COUNT FOR JANUARY 21, 2011 -- AT 62,800

USCIS just issued another H-1B cap update. As of January 21, 2011 they have received 62,800 H-1B petitions for FY 2011. The master's degree cap has already been exhausted and it appears that USCIS is receiving a little more than 2,000 H-1B petitions that are subject to the cap each week so the cap will probably be reached later this week or early next week at the latest at this pace. You should file quickly!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

USCIS UPDATES H-1B CAP COUNT FOR JANUARY 14, 2011 -- AT 60,700

USCIS just issued another H-1B cap update for January 14, 2011. As of that date, they have received 60,700 H-1B cap-subject petitions. There are approximately 4,000 H-1B visas left and at the current usage rate of 2,000 per week there is only one or two weeks left until the cap will be reached. Stay tuned...

Monday, January 17, 2011

NEW GAO REPORT RECOMMENDS REFORMS TO H-1B PROGRAM

A recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of the H-1B visa program recommends reforms to minimize the risks and costs of the current program.
The January report reiterated what we all know -- that during the past decade the demand for new H-1B workers tended to exceed the cap.
What is interesting is that over the last decade, over 14 percent of all initial petitions were submitted by cap-exempt employers, and only a few employers (fewer than 1 percent) garnered over one-quarter of all H-1B approvals. Many of the problems associated with the H-1B program are attributed to these few employers, most of which are staffing businesses that act as middlemen for employers that are not held accountable for compliance with the rules of the program.
According to the report, these staffing arrangements (that place workers at sites of other employers) are difficult to pinpoint because of lack of disclosure requirements, but the GAO estimated that 10 of the top 85 H-1B hiring companies in fiscal 2009 were staffing businesses, garnering nearly 11,456 approvals.
With the staffing arrangement comes the biggest challenge with compliance with the H-1B program because the end-client is not responsible for the worker, but the staffing company is. Also, there are many chains of staffing companies - that often place an H-1B worker with a company that then places the worker with another company — adding middleman layers that makes enforcement more difficult.
A large number of the H-1B program complaints have been filed against staffing businesses. In the Northeast region, which receives the highest number of H-1B complaints, nearly all the complaints received involve staffing companies. Among the most frequent types of violations is failure by the employer to pay the required wage rate.
The Neufeld memo from January 2009 limited significantly the chances of a staffing company to obtain an H-1B approval. We'll wait and see what other steps will be taken to increase program compliance. However, let's hope that not all H-1B employers are going to suffer.
The report can be found here: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1126.pdf

Friday, January 14, 2011

USCIS UPDATES H-1B CAP COUNT FOR JANUARY 7, 2011 -- AT 58,700

USCIS just issued another H-1B cap update -- as of January 7, 2011, they have received 58,700 H-1B petitions subject to the cap. As a reminder, the advanced degree cap of 20,000 was reached earlier in December and all applicants now are filing under the regular cap. It will not be long now before it will be reached. Anyone thinking of applying is urged to start...

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

USCIS UPDATES H-1B CAP COUNT FOR DECEMBER 31, 2010 -- AT 57,300

USCIS just issued another H-1B cap update -- as of December 31, 2010 they have received 57,300 H-1B petitions subject to the regular cap plus 20,000 under the advanced degree quota, which maximum for this fiscal year has been reached. With less than 8,000 visas left, we project that the H-1B exhaustion target date will be in the end of January or beginning of February at the latest. Better hurry and file now if you don't want to wait until October.

Monday, January 3, 2011

USCIS PROPOSES REGISTRATION FOR H-1B EMPLOYERS

USCIS is proposing to amend its regulations governing H-1B petitions subject to the annual numerical limitations (65,000 for regular cap plus 20,000 for master's and advanced degree cap). This rule proposes an electronic registration program for petitions subject to numerical limitations. Right now USCIS accepts petitions as part of a lottery system if more than the annual limit of H-1B petitions are filed in the first couple of days in April. Currently the cap is not maximized soon because of the economic downturn; but that is a temporary issues that will be abated in the near future. USCIS deems this action necessary because the demand for H-1B specialty occupation workers by U.S. companies generally exceeds the numerical limitation. This rule is intended to allow USCIS to more efficiently manage the intake and lottery process for these H-1B petitions. USCIS is proposing that petitioners register first and only if the registration is successful the petitioner can then file the H-1B petition.
USCIS estimates that this rule will result in a net benefit to society. That is because the petitioners have to complete the H-1B package, prepare all documents, pay the attorney fees, etc., and submit the application without any certainty that an H-1B cap number will ultimately be allocated to them. The new Internet-based registration system allows employers to complete a much shorter and less expensive registration process for consideration of available H-1B cap numbers. The new system will also relieve a significant administrative burden and expense from USCIS by reducing costs for some employers (especially those not allocated a cap number).
This definitely makes a lot of sense and is a step in the right direction; there is a significant downside to that is since there is no real cost to register, what happens if companies register multiple beneficiaries only at the end after they get selected not filing the H-1B petitions and just wasting numbers for those who need them?