Tuesday, October 25, 2011

USCIS UPDATES 2012 H-1B COUNT ON 10/21/2011: AT 46,200

USCIS just issued another H-1B cap update. As of October 21, 2011 the H-1B Master's degree quota has been used up. USCIS has receipted an additional 46,200 H-1B petitions subject to the regular cap of 65,000. This is an increase of approximately 3,000 H-1B filings in a one week period so the rate of receipts is increasing.
People who are thinking about applying should not wait because the quota will not stay for long at this rate, probably another 6 weeks, maybe a bit longer.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

USCIS UPDATES 2012 H-1B COUNT ON 10/14/2011: AT 43,300

USCIS just issued another H-1B cap update. As of October 14, 2011, they have received approximately 43,300 H-1B petitions subject to the regular cap of 65,000 plus 19,600 H-1B petitions subject to the master's degree cap of 20,000.
Within the last week of counting, USCIS has received about 2,500 petitions, which represents an uptick from previous months. Maybe the economy is slightly improving or maybe employers are rushing to file as long as there are numbers available but the quota will not last for long. Early next year is my guess on when the quota will be reached.

Monday, October 17, 2011

H-1B USAGE TRACKING CLOSELY WITH LAST YEAR

If H-1B usage is a barometer of what is happening in the overall job market, the US economy is largely in the same place as last year. The latest data shows 41,000 H-1Bs have been used against the cap of 65,000 after just over six months of filing. Last year we were at 41,900 at about the same time. That is still very light usage compared to prior years. So, U.S. companies are still very slow in hiring workers, including foreign-nationals.

Friday, October 14, 2011

CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEBSITE

We recently launched a new website targeted to physicians, please check it out: http://www.physiciansimmigration.com/
I will be happy to hear feedback on it.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

USCIS UPDATES 2012 H-1B COUNT ON 10/7/2011: AT 41,000

USCIS just issued another H-1B cap update. As of October 7, 2011, they have received approximately 41,000 H-1B petitions towards the 65,000 annual cap. They have also received approximately 19,100 H-1B petitions towards the Master’s Exemption of 20,000.
The master's degree quota will probably be exhausted in a week.
The regular quota is increasing at a higher rate of about 2,000 per week now, once the master's degree quota is exhausted, the regular cap will move faster.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

STEVE JOBS AND IMMIGRATION

By now you probably all have heard yesterday about the death of Steve Jobs, one of the world's greatest entrepreneurs.
You probably also know that Steve Jobs started Apple with a high school friend in a Silicon Valley garage in 1976, was forced out a decade later and returned a decade later in 1997 to rescue the company. Now it is the most valuable technology company in the world with a market value of $351 billion (largest market cap). He has been responsible for innovation of the personal computer, iMac, iPod, iPhone iPad, and many others.
It led me to think, what would happen if Steve Jobs was born outside the United States? Maybe up north in Canada or down south in Mexico (or anywhere else for that matter)? Apple would probably be dead in the water and no one would have an iPhone or iPad.
The H-1B immigration laws do not support visas for entrepreneurs who are high school or college dropouts (unless they have lots of years of experience under their belt). Also, the current USCIS policies prohibit sponsorship of H-1B visas for entrepreneurs who hold a significant ownership interest in their companies.
Too bad that USCIS doesn't think in these terms. In a recent stakeholders meeting with USCIS headquarters they reiterated that the Neufeld memo is still in effect and they are not accepting any changes to it. Litigation is the only option.