USCIS just issued a report to Congress “Characteristics of H-1B Specialty Occupation Workers” for Fiscal Year 2012.
Some interesting facts outlined in the report:
1) The number of H-1B petitions filed increased 15% from 267,654 in FY 2011 to 307,713 in FY 2012. Due no doubt to the economic recovery.
2) The number of H-1B petitions approved decreased 3 percent from 269,653 in FY 2011 to 262,569 in FY 2012. Due no doubt to increased scrutiny from USCIS on all H-1B petitions and increased RFEs even though USCIS issued memos not to issue needless RFEs. I suspect in percentages it is actually worse because FY2012 had substantially more filings, so denial rate is probably more than 7% higher overall compared with FY2011.
3) 72% of H-1B petitions approved in FY 2012 were for workers between the ages of 25 and 34.
4) 46% of H-1B petitions approved in FY 2012 were for workers with a bachelor’s degree, 41% had a master’s degree, 8% had a doctorate, and 4 percent were for workers with a professional degree.
5) 61% of H-1B petitions approved in FY 2012 were for workers in computer related occupations followed by engineering and architecture.
6) The median salary of beneficiaries of approved petitions remained at $70,000 for both FYs 2011 and 2012.
7) After the IT industry, the higher education industry commanded the most petitions. The good news is that the higher education positions are cap-exempt.
8) Healthcare workers represent about 5% of the total number of cases.
You can find the full report here.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
DOL RELEASES H-1B AND PERM STATISTICS
U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification just issued statistics about FY 20013 year-to-date on the H-1B temporary program. Note that this information only relates to the LCAs, not the final numbers by USCIS. According to their data, so far to date they have received 323,866 LCA applications. They have processed all of them in a timely manner, meaning within the 7 business days as required by their own regulations.
The top 10 occupations were computer related, including computer systems analysts, computer programmer, software developers and computer and information system managers. The next group were accountants, auditors, management and financial analyst and the final group of occupations were engineers.
The state with the most filings was California with almost 120,000 filings, which more than doubled that of New York and Texas with over 55,000 each.
Top employers were consulting companies, including Syntel, Cognizant, Wipro, Infosys, PWC, Tata consulting and Deloitte.
On the PERM front, they have received so far almost 51,000 applications for PERM, out of which 26% have been audited and 11% are pending appeal. So far 25,668 applications were certified, 5,251 were denied and 1,828 were withdrawn. Not great statistics on PERMs... Here again over 56% of the occupations were computer and math related, then architecture and engineering about 11% and management 8%. Top work site was California with 23%, then New Jersey, New York and Texas.
The top 10 occupations were computer related, including computer systems analysts, computer programmer, software developers and computer and information system managers. The next group were accountants, auditors, management and financial analyst and the final group of occupations were engineers.
The state with the most filings was California with almost 120,000 filings, which more than doubled that of New York and Texas with over 55,000 each.
Top employers were consulting companies, including Syntel, Cognizant, Wipro, Infosys, PWC, Tata consulting and Deloitte.
On the PERM front, they have received so far almost 51,000 applications for PERM, out of which 26% have been audited and 11% are pending appeal. So far 25,668 applications were certified, 5,251 were denied and 1,828 were withdrawn. Not great statistics on PERMs... Here again over 56% of the occupations were computer and math related, then architecture and engineering about 11% and management 8%. Top work site was California with 23%, then New Jersey, New York and Texas.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
ISSA'S SKILLS ACT PASSES HOUSE JUDICIARY
Great news! The House Judiciary Committee has just passed the Supplying Knowledge Based Immigrants and Lifting Levels of STEM Visa Act (SKILLS Act), sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) along with 20 co-sponsors.
The SKILLS Act would nearly triple the H-1B cap and also increase employment-based green card numbers and add 4,000 immigrant visas for health care occupations, including nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and other allied health care workers who work in rural or undeserved areas.
Unlike the current situation where these employees are subject to 6-7 year backlogs in the EB-3 category, these additional immigrant visas are immediately available and not subject to retrogression.
This is the first step toward a House comprehensive immigration bill like the one passed in the Senate. However, the House is expected to debate the Senate bill and change many of its provisions. The House may administratively decide to have several smaller bills, rather than one large immigration bill. We hopefully await and see.
The SKILLS Act would nearly triple the H-1B cap and also increase employment-based green card numbers and add 4,000 immigrant visas for health care occupations, including nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and other allied health care workers who work in rural or undeserved areas.
Unlike the current situation where these employees are subject to 6-7 year backlogs in the EB-3 category, these additional immigrant visas are immediately available and not subject to retrogression.
This is the first step toward a House comprehensive immigration bill like the one passed in the Senate. However, the House is expected to debate the Senate bill and change many of its provisions. The House may administratively decide to have several smaller bills, rather than one large immigration bill. We hopefully await and see.
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