Current Cap Count for H-1B Advanced Degree Cap Fiscal Year 2008 (as of April 30, 2007)
| Cap | Beneficiaries Approved | Beneficiaries Pending Petitions Receipted | Beneficiaries Pending Petitions yet to be Receipted | Total | Date of Last Count |
H-1B (FY 08) | 58,200 1 | —— | —— | —— | Cap Reached | 4/2/2007 |
H-1B Advanced Degree Exemption (FY 08) | 20,000 | 9,078 | 10,787 | 22 | 19,887 | 4/30/2007 |
U.S. Universities, Research Parks Hit Hard by Government Cap on H-1B Visas
RESTON, Va., May 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The current U.S. cap on the number of skilled-worker visas (H-1
severely handicaps the ability of U.S. universities, science and technology-related companies and research facilities in their ongoing missions to develop new technologies, medicines and other innovative products that put the country on the leading edge of the global economy, according to the Association of University Research Parks (AURP).
Continue reading
Immigration rallies push for reform, but turnout is lower than massive protests in 2006
As expected, the immigration rallies underway have a substantially reduced turnout this year.
Immigration Groups Split on Boycott
04/24/2007
Via washingtonpost.com
The Associated Press reports that a lower turnout for Immigrant Rights Groups is expected this year.
H-1B Master’s Cap Approaches Exhaustion (Numbers as of 04/21/2007)
H-1B Advanced Degree Exemption<O
></O>
The H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004, which took effect on May 5, 2005, changed the H-1B filing procedures for FY 2005 and for future fiscal years. The H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004 also makes available 20,000 new H-1B visas for foreign workers with a Master’s or higher level degree from a U.S. academic institution.<O></O>
| Cap | Beneficiaries Approved | Beneficiaries Pending Petitions Receipted | Beneficiaries Pending Petitions yet to be Receipted | Total | Date of Last Count |
H-1B (FY 08) | 58,200 1 | —— | —— | —— | Cap Reached | 4/2/2007 |
H-1B Advanced Degree Exemption (FY 08) | 20,000 | 7,339 | 7,801 | 3,509 | 18,649 | 4/21/2007 |
Cap Count for Non-Immigrant Worker Visas for Fiscal Year 2008 as of 04/19/2007
|
|
Cap |
Beneficiaries Approved |
Beneficiaries Pending Petitions Receipted |
Beneficiaries Pending Petitions yet to be Receipted |
Total |
Date of Last Count |
|
H-1B (FY 08) |
58,200 1 |
—— |
—— |
—— |
Cap Reached |
4/2/2007 |
|
H-1B Advanced Degree Exemption (FY 08) |
20,000 |
5,097 |
4,855 |
7,035 |
16,987 |
4/16/2007 |
USCIS RUNS RANDOM SELECTION PROCESS FOR H-1Bs
Revised Business Procedures Expedite Processing
FROM 04/13/2007
USCIS PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that on April 12 it conducted the computer-generated random selection process to determine which H-1B petitions, subject to the congressionally mandated H-1B cap for fiscal year 2008 (FY 2008), would continue to final processing. USCIS completed this determination ahead of the preliminary schedule noted on April 3, when it announced it had received enough petitions to meet the cap for FY 2008.
The 123,480 cap-subject petitions received on April 2 and 3 were labeled with unique numerical identifiers and selected randomly by computer. The chosen numerical identifiers were then transmitted to the appropriate service center for further processing.
Applicants who submitted properly filed petitions that are accepted for adjudication will receive a receipt notice. All petitions not chosen will be returned with the fee(s) to the petitioner or their authorized representative. The total process is expected to take approximately four weeks.
For the cases initially filed for premium processing, the 15-day premium processing period begins on April 12, the day petitions were selected through the random selection process.
USCIS will provide additional updates as the processing of FY 2008 H-1B cap cases continues.
H-1B in General: U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields, such as scientists, engineers, or computer programmers. As part of the H-1B program, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Labor require U.S. employers to meet specific labor conditions to ensure that American workers are not adversely impacted. The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division safeguards the treatment and compensation of H-1B workers.
Update: Cap Subject H-1B Computerized Random Selection is being run on 04/12/2007
VIA AILA
USCIS Associate Director for Domestic Operations Michael Aytes informed members attending the AILA Texas Chapter Conference in Las Vegas that the H-1B random number generator is being run on April 12, 2007.
USCIS IMPOSES CONDITIONS ON AVAILABILITY OF PREMIUM PROCESSING FOR H-1B PETITIONS SUBJECT TO THE FY 2008 CAP
04/09/2007
VIA USCIS PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the 15-day premium processing period for petitions subject to the fiscal year 2008 (FY 2008) congressionally mandated H-1B cap will begin after the computer-generated random lottery has selected the petitions for processing. USCIS announced on April 3, 2007 that it had received enough H-1B petitions to meet the FY 2008 cap.
USCIS has determined that the large number of H-1B filings on April 2 and April 3 requires placing conditions on the availability of the premium processing service. The Agency’s ability to provide premium processing service to these petitions is affected by the fact that the cap was reached and exceeded the first day employers could file H-1B petitions.
8 CFR 103.2(f)(2) provides that USCIS may announce via its website any applicable conditions on the availability of the premium processing service for previously designated classifications, petitions or applications. By an interim rule published on May 23, 2006 at 71 FR 29571, USCIS announced that it would post any conditions imposed on the availability of premium processing necessary to ensure that the agency has the needed flexibility to handle situations affecting the ability to provide premium processing service. Like the scenario in the preamble that required imposing conditions on the availability of premium processing, USCIS must exercise its authority under 8 CFR 103.2(f)(2) as a result of current conditions.
On April 2 and 3, USCIS received 133,000 unique pieces of mail containing H-1B petitions. Each piece of mail may contain more than one H-1B petition. It will require substantial resources to open and sort through that volume of mail.
USCIS is prohibited by 8 CFR 214.2(h)(8) from adjudicating any cases that are subject to the FY 2008 cap until it conducts a computer-generated random lottery for cases received on April 2 and April 3. USCIS will reject with their fees all petitions not selected in the random selection process. As directed by the H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004, the first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of aliens with U.S.-earned masters’ or higher degrees are exempt from any fiscal year cap on available H-1B visas. In the event that USCIS received more than 20,000 petitions that would qualify for this exemption on April 2 and April 3, USCIS must first conduct a computer-generated random lottery to select 20,000 filings for processing. Those filings not selected for processing are subject to the FY 2008 H-1B cap and must be considered in that random selection process as well. Because of that, USCIS must first determine whether the 20,000 cap exemption was met and/or exceeded prior to conducting the computer-generated random lottery and prior to processing any cases subject to the FY 2008 H-1B cap.
USCIS is not suspending or terminating the premium processing service for the H-1B classification. It has simply imposed a condition of availability of the premium processing service for cap-subject H-1B petitions. That condition is that the 15-day premium processing period will begin when the petition is selected for processing through the random selection process.
USCIS UPDATES COUNT OF FY 2008 H-1B CAP FILINGS
APRIL 10, 2007
VIA USCIS
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced an updated number of filings today as the counting of H-1B petitions received on April 2 and 3 continues. On April 3, USCIS announced that it had received enough petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap for fiscal year 2008 (FY 2008) and that it would conduct a computer-generated random selection of cap-subject petitions filed on Monday (April 2) and Tuesday (April 3) to determine which cases would be accepted for processing. As of April 9, USCIS has determined that approximately 119,193 of the H-1B petitions received on April 2 and 3 are subject to the FY 2008 congressionally mandated cap.
USCIS received on April 2 and 3 a total of approximately 12,989 cases requesting an exemption from the FY 2008 H-1B cap because they were filed on behalf of aliens holding a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. institution. USCIS can now announce that the cap of 20,000 on these exempt cases remains open and that USCIS will continue to monitor these filings.
USCIS will provide regular updates as the processing of FY 2008 H-1B cap cases continues. H-1B in General: U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in fields, such as scientists, engineers or computer programmers. As part of the H-1B program, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) require U.S. employers to meet specific labor conditions to ensure that American workers are not adversely impacted, while DOL’s Wage and Hour Division safeguards the treatment and compensation of H-1B workers.
USCIS RELEASES PRELIMINARY NUMBER OF FY 2008 H-1B CAP FILINGS
WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a preliminary number of filings today as the tallying of H-1B petitions received on April 2 and April 3 continues. On April 3, USCIS announced that it had received enough petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap for fiscal year 2008 (FY 2008) and that it would conduct a computer-generated random selection of cap-subject petitions filed on Monday (April 2) and Tuesday (April 3) to determine which cases USCIS will accept for processing. During Monday and Tuesday, USCIS received 133,000 unique pieces of mail containing H-1B petitions. This is lower that the original USCIS estimate of 150,000. USCIS based the initial estimate on amounts from manifests received along with the mail. USCIS reached the updated number following a physical count of the mail. Each piece of mail may contain more than one H-1B petition. It will take USCIS a substantial amount of time to open and sort through that volume of mail. As of Wednesday, 28,052 of the cases sorted are H-1B petitions subject to FY 2008 congressionally mandated cap. Four thousand, seven hundred three (4,703) cases are exempt from the FY 2008 H-1B cap as employers filed those petitions for aliens holding a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. institution. USCIS will provide regular updates as the processing of FY 2008 H-1B cap cases continues.
H-1B in General: U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in fields, such as scientists, engineers or computer programmers. As part of the H-1B program, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Labor (DOL) require U.S. employers to meet specific labor conditions to ensure that American workers are not adversely impacted, while DOL’s Wage and Hour Division safeguards the treatment and compensation of H-1B workers
Mom, teen relieved after immigration flap
BY BONNIE DELANEY
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
BERKELEY — Andrea MacArthur is beginning to see light at the end of
the tunnel in her quest to become an American citizen — but the past
few days have been a roller coaster for the 19-year-old Ocean County
College student.
Recently, she was unable to renew her driver’s
license because she lacked the proper credentials from the U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services department.
Buoyed by
support she received from those who read a story about her plight on
Tuesday, it was only one day later she received a message from her
employer that she should not return to work until she has the proper
documentation.
Last month, MacArthur had celebrated the first anniversary of her part-time job at Kohl’s in Toms River.
“She called me up crying after she received that message,” said MacArthur’s mother, Gail Carnevale, 40, of Berkeley.
So, Carnevale did what any other mother would do.
She
took the day off from her own job and she and her daughter drove to the
immigration offices in Newark, arriving hours before the office opened
Thursday morning.
“I talked to my contact with immigration in
Washington, D.C. and learned that the Newark office occasionally takes
walk-ins,” Carnevale said.
When the office opened, Carnevale and
MacArthur explained their problem to the person at the reception desk,
who told them no one was seen without an appointment and the office no
longer stamped passports.
“So, we sat there and finally the head
of security told us we couldn’t wait there. He told us to wait in the
cafeteria and to make our phone calls there,” Carnevale said.
Carnevale
said she then put calls in to the Washington, D.C., immigration office
as well as the office of Rep. H. James Saxton, R-N.J.
Saxton had helped her become a citizen and his aides were trying to help MacArthur.
As
Carnevale was waiting for her calls to be returned, she noticed
numerous lawyers talking to clients and she walked up to one to ask for
help.
“I didn’t know what else to do. I was ready to hire someone right there if I could,” she said.
After
she was turned away by two lawyers, a third lawyer agreed to walk her
over to the immigration case worker who was handling her case.
“She
told me she knew him (the case worker) and she would introduce me,”
Carnevale said. “She (the lawyer) helped us out of the goodness of her
heart.”
Asian Americans slam proposed US immigration draft
Washington, April. 7 (PTI): Asian
American community leaders have slammed as “inhumane” and “un-American”
a newly leaked White House immigration draft which proposes to take
away the right of legal immigrants to sponsor their relatives to join
them.
The document containing “a set of
principles” for immigration reform drafted by key Republican
Congressional representatives was circulated in Washington last week.
The plan creates temporary visas for undocumented immigrants and new
workers, but it also places more limits on American citizens ability to
bring their parents, children over age 21 and siblings to the United
States.
“This plan attacks families and offers
false hope for those seeking to legalize,” Karen K. Narasaki, executive
director of the Washington-based Asian American Justice Center has been
quoted in the New American Media. The Asian American community is the
second largest group of immigrants who enter the United States through
family sponsorship or by being immediate relatives of American
citizens.
According to statistics of the
Department of Homeland Security China, Vietnam and India are among the
top ten countries whose immigrants arrive through family sponsorship.
In 2005, about 17,000 Chinese obtained legal status in the United
States through family sponsorship; 26,800 became legal residents
because they were immediate relatives of U.S. citizens.
Because so many Asians enter the United
States through family quotas, the result of the White House draft could
be nearly the same as the Chinese Exclusion Act, Michael Lin, Executive
Director of the Organization of Chinese Americans has been quoted in
the media report.
The U.S. Immigration Law Blog by Ashwin Sharma 