USCIS UPDATES 2012 H-1B COUNT ON 7/22/2011: AT 21,600

USCIS just issued another H-1B cap update. As of July 22, 2011, they received 21,600 H-1B petitions subject to the regular H-1B cap for FY2012, plus 13,300 H-1B petitions for foreign-nationals with advanced degrees.
It's still a slow trickle so plenty of more visas to go because of the slow economy.

MICROSOFT LOBBIES CONGRESS FOR IMMIGRATION POLICY CHANGE

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, testified yesterday about the need to overhaul the highly skilled immigration. He testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security at a hearing on "The Economic Imperative for Immigration Reform".

Smith said Microsoft relies heavily on its ability to recruit top talent from overseas. Because of shortages and intense competition, filling their talent needs remains a serious challenge for Microsoft. For example, in May, Microsoft had 4,551 unfilled job openings, of which 2,629 were for computer science positions. In 2011, it has taken us on average 65 days to fill openings for experienced candidates in core tech positions in the United States. This cannot be achieved (especially not in the short term) through educational improvements to the American workforce.
Smith argued what we all know to be true, that there is a disconnect between a high unemployment rate and the ability to find skilled tech workers from the domestic work force for specific technology occupations. Opening the doors for highly skilled immigrants can help create more jobs here for U.S. citizens and foreign nationals alike. For example, a recent University of Washington study shows that every skilled Microsoft job supports 5.8 other jobs in Washington State.

My opinion is that continuing with inflexible H-1B limits is not helping but hurting the economy -- we all know that when the economy scales back, so does the number of visa applications, so Congress needs to take out the cap altogether and let market forces determine the need for highly skilled workers.

H-1B EMPLOYER OWES OVER $156K IN BACK WAGES

After an H-1B employer messed up an employee termination, DOL determined that he owes over $156,000 in back wages.
The employer in that case notified the employee about his termination, but failed to notify USCIS and also failed to pay for the employee's return transportation home. The employee departed eventually on his own, but the employer was still ordered to pay back wages throughout the entire H-1B period, even after the employee left the United States.
The case, Limanseto v. Ganze and Company is available at:
http://www.oalj.dol.gov/Decisions/ALJ/LCA/2011/LIMANSETO_KEVIN_v_GANZE_and_COMPANY_2011LCA00005_(JUN_30_2011)_124211_CADEC_SD.PDF

USCIS UPDATES 2012 H-1B COUNT ON 7/15/2011: AT 20,500

USCIS just issued another H-1B cap update. As of July 15, 2011 they have received approximately 20,500 petitions subject to the FY2012 regular cap, plus approximately 12,800 H-1B petitions under the advanced degree cap.
It looks like a little over 1,000 petitions were filed during the last week, the pace picking up a bit from the last couple of weeks. We'll have to wait and see...

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY SCHOOLS TO PAY $4.2 MILLION FOR H-1B VIOLATIONS

The U.S. Department of Labor announced that Maryland's Prince George's County Public Schools system has agreed to pay over $4.2 million in back wages to H-1B employees for alleged violations of the H-1B temporary worker program. This is after a DOL investigation found H-1B violations. In a settlement agreement the public school system agreed to pay a whopping $4,222,146.35 (yes, and 35 cents).
They are also to pay $100,000 in civil penalties.
The school system is also debarred from the H-1B program for 2 years after the final decision in the case as well as debarred from filing immigrant visa applications for employees (I-140's).

USCIS UPDATES 2012 H-1B COUNT ON 7/7/2011: AT 19,000

USCIS just issued another H-1B visa cap update. As of July 7, 2011, they have received approximately 19,000 H-1B petitions subject to the FY2012 regular cap plus approximately 12,200 petitions subject to the advanced degree cap.
This was a slower week for H-1B receipting (probably due to the July 4th holiday), only 600 petitions under the regular cap were receipted (down from 1,000 the week before).

USCIS UPDATES 2012 H-1B COUNT ON 7/1/2011: AT 18,400

USCIS just issued another H-1B cap update. As of July 1, 2011, they have received approximately 18,400 H-1B petitions subject to the regular cap plus 11,900 petitions subject to the advanced degree cap.
From the previous week that is exactly 1,000 petitions that were received. If it continues at this rate, the cap will be reached into 2012 sometime in Q1.
More updates to follow.

USCIS UPDATES 2012 H-1B COUNT ON 6/24/2011: AT 17,400

USCIS just issued an H-1B cap update - as of June 24, 2011 USCIS has received approximately 17,400 H-1B petitions subject to the 2012 cap year. It advanced about 1,000 since last week which is still a very slow pace. USCIS has received 11,300 petitions subject to the U.S. master's degree or higher.
Happy 4th of July holiday!