DHS, USCIS Office of Inspector General, Information Technology Management Report entitled “Progress and Challenges” covers IT recommendations for USCIS
via www.oig.dhs.gov/
DHS, USCIS Office of Inspector General, Information Technology Management Report entitled “Progress and Challenges”
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Information Technology Management Progress and Challenges (PDF, 36 pages – 1.34 MB)
Spotlight (PDF, 1 page – 125 KB)
USCIS Reaches FY 2015 H-1B Cap – Via USCS.gov
VIA USCIS.gov
Release Date: April 07, 2014
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year (FY) 2015. USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the U. S. advanced degree exemption.
Before running a random selection process, USCIS will complete initial intake for all filings received during the filing period which ended today. Due to the high number of petitions, USCIS is not yet able to announce the date on which it will conduct the random selection process.
A computer-generated process will randomly select the number of petitions needed to meet the caps of 65,000 visas for the general category and 20,000 under the advanced degree exemption. USCIS will reject and return filing fees for all cap-subject petitions that are not selected, unless found to be a duplicate filing.
The agency will conduct the selection process for the advanced degree exemption first. All advanced degree petitions not selected will become part of the random selection process for the 65,000 limit.
USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. Petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap will not be counted towards the congressionally mandated FY 2015 H-1B cap. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions filed to:
- Extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the United States;
- Change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;
- Allow current H-1B workers to change employers; and
- Allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.
- U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in occupations that require highly specialized knowledge in fields such as science, engineering and computer programming.
For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit http://www.uscis.gov or follow us on Facebook (/uscis), Twitter (@uscis), YouTube (/uscis) and the USCIS blog The Beacon.
Last Reviewed/Updated: 04/07/2014
USCIS will remain operational during the Federal Government Shutdown thanks to the healthy funding it derives from USCIS filing fees
H1B demographics india.jpg Category:Immigration to the United States charts and graphs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
- Good news: USCIS’ operations though the Federal Government Shutdown are expected to continue because it is funded by sources other than appropriated funds (read: H-1B and other USCIS filing fees). In fact, this funding is so substantial that USCIS expects to send home only 353 of 12,558 employees during the temporary shutdown.
- Consulates remain operational at this point.
- Unfortunately, the DOL ETA will not process any employment based labor certifications during the shut down. The PERM PLC website is also down, as is iCert.
USCIS now considers Same-Sex Marriages valid: Green Card Applications OK
VIA DHS.GOV
Implementation of the Supreme Court Ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act
Statement from Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano:
English: Official portrait of United States Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano Español: Retrato oficial de Secretaria de Seguridad Interna de los Estados Unidos Janet Napolitano (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“After last week’s decision by the Supreme Court holding that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional, President Obama directed federal departments to ensure the decision and its implication for federal benefits for same-sex legally married couples are implemented swiftly and smoothly. To that end, effective immediately, I have directed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to review immigration visa petitions filed on behalf of a same-sex spouse in the same manner as those filed on behalf of an opposite-sex spouse.”
Frequently Asked Questions
USCIS Anticipates Meeting FY 2014 H-1B Cap in First Few Days – First Time since 2008
By nation in 2005 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
By Ashwin Sharma, Esq.
The latest H-1B numerical cap (FY 2014) opens on April 1, 2013. USCIS has indicated that it expects to receive more than 65,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions and more than 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of individuals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher between April 1, 2013, and April 5, 2013. USCIS will monitor the number of petitions received and notify the public of the date on which the numerical limit of the H-1B cap has been met. This date is known as the final receipt date. If USCIS receives more petitions than it can accept, USCIS will use a lottery system to randomly select the number of petitions required to reach the numerical limit. USCIS will reject petitions that are subject to the cap and are not selected, as well as petitions received after it has the necessary number of petitions needed to meet the cap.
This could be the first time since April 2008 that the H-1B cap will require a lottery. USCIS has also indicated that premium processing for H-1B petitions filed for the Cap will note begin until April 15, 2013, quite understandable considering they are expecting an avalanche of H-1B cases.
That we are at 2008 application levels and preparing for another H-1B lottery is testament to two major factors:
1. Information Technology consulting, and the large variety of industries supported by it, have largely rebounded since the 2008 economic crash.
2. There are not enough H-1B visas to meet demand. Increasing H-1B numbers was obviously not at the top of the priority list during the economic collapse, however, it must be addressed directly by any Comprehensive Immigration Reform program. Increasing the H-1B quota, along with the addition of a special category for IT workers, is a no-brainer – one of the simplest fixes Congress can make in both strengthening this country’s economy and status as a tech superpower.
Related articles
- US to accept H1B applications from April 1 (news.in.msn.com)
Information on the New Provisional (Stateside) Unlawful Presence Waiver Process
VIA USCIS.gov
Beginning March 4, certain immigrant visa applicants who are the spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens (immediate relatives), and have been unlawfully present in the United States, can start applying for provisional unlawful presence waivers through a new process. Read More…
USCIS Releases Latest Data on (DACA) Cases Received Through 12/13/2012 – 70% of Total Cases Cite Mexico as Country of Origin
DREAMer Information Summit (Photo credit: Neighborhood Centers)
USCIS’ Latest Data on DACA Cases indicates that as of December 13, 2012, USCIS has accepted a total of 355,889 DACA cases, of which 102,965 have been approved, and 157,151 are pending. Just over 70% of all cases received by USCIS cite Mexico as the applicants’ country of origin. The top State of applicants’ residence is California.
Related articles
USCIS announces Workload Transfer from Service Centers to Field Operations
Via USCIS.gov
USCIS wants to notify customers and stakeholders that some work that USCIS performs at the four USCIS service centers (Vermont, Nebraska, Texas and California) will be transferred to a Field Office or the National Benefits Center (NBC) in order to balance the overall workload with processing capacity. The chart below summarizes these changes.
USCIS’s Latest Numbers on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Applications
Via the USCIS’ Office of Performance and Quality (OPQ)
DACA Stage Cumulative to date (August 15 – September 13, 2012)
1. Intake Number of requests accepted for processing – 82,361
2. Biometrics Number of biometric appointments scheduled* – 63,717
3. Adjudication Number of requests ready for review** – 1,660
4. Completed Number of requests completed – 29
Systems: Lockbox Intake System, Biometrics Capture Systems, CIS Consolidated Operational Repository (CISCOR)
*The number of biometrics appointments may exceed the total number of cases due to rescheduling by the requestor
**Includes all requests having biometrics captured and before decision
USCIS’ Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) FAQs UPDATED 09/14/2012
FAQs updated September 14, 2012 On June 15, 2012, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced that certain people who came to the United States as children and meet several key guidelines may request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal, and would then be eligible for work authorization. Deferred action is a discretionary determination to defer removal action of an individual as an act of prosecutorial discretion. Deferred action does not provide an individual with lawful status. If you need further information and cannot find it on this Web page or in our Frequent Asked Questions, you may contact our National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283 or 1-800-767-1833 (TDD for the hearing impaired). Customer service officers are available Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. in each U.S. time zone. |
CBP Discontinues Stamping Form I-20 At Ports of Entry
NAFSA has issued an alert that Customs and Border Protection will no longer stamp I-20s at ports of entry (POEs). USCIS is reaching out to other agencies, such as the DMV, to inform them of the change, since many agencies require the I-20 stamp prior to granting benefits.
The U.S. Immigration Law Blog by Ashwin Sharma 