Immigration
H-1B Professional Visas — Preparation Begins for April Filings
Once again it is H-1B filing season, and, once again U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is likely to receive the full allocation of visa petitions in the first week of filing commencing April 1. Once the quota is reached, new H-1B visa requests will not be accepted until April 1, 2015, for work that commences on Oct. 1, 2015 — more than 18 months from now!
Visas for professional specialty workers (H-1Bs) are, as they have been, capped at 65,000 per fiscal year. Another 20,000 visas are available to workers with advanced degrees (master’s or higher) obtained at U.S. institutions of higher education. Of the total 85,000 H-1B visas available, some 6,800 visas are set aside for nationals of Chile and Singapore under special rules.
While some H-1B petitions can be filed at any time because they are exempt from the numerical cap, the vast majority of H-1B applicants in business are subject to the cap. Thus, employers should immediately identify first-time H-1B employees and begin preparing necessary petitions for the April 1 filing date. Employers and their employees should take time now to collect academic and work-experience documentation; secure translations and educational evaluations, where appropriate; organize wage and compensation data; and prepare detailed job descriptions.
Finally, now is also a good time for employers to review their company’s H-1B public access files to ensure that files are complete and in full compliance, as well as to determine that valid employer-employee relationships have been maintained.
Immigrant Visa Availability: What to Expect in the Coming Months
The family second preference for spouses and children of lawful permanent residents (F2A), which advanced significantly in August 2013, has retrogressed for Mexico to 04/15/2012, as posted in the March Visa Bulletin. This means that those applicants who applied to adjust their status during the last six months but who do not have their cases approved before March 1 will have to wait to obtain their green cards until they reach their priority date. The State Department also advises that because there are many applicants with priority dates earlier than any listed cut-off dates, not everyone who reaches a priority date will receive a visa. (The F2A worldwide preference category is expected to retrogress by the summer.)
As the visa allocations enter the sixth month of the fiscal year, the March Visa Bulletin provides projections for the next several months based on current applicant demand patterns, with the caveat that projections are not guaranteed and “corrective” action may be required to maintain visa number use within the applicable annual limits. Nevertheless, those categories with a “current” projection are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.
Family-sponsored categories (potential monthly movement)
Worldwide dates:
F1: Two to four weeks
F2A: No forward movement is expected
F2B: Four to seven weeks
F3: Four to six weeks
F4: Two or three weeks
Employment-based categories (potential monthly movement)
EB-1: Current
EB-2:
Worldwide: Current
China: Three to five weeks
India: No forward movement
EB-3:
Worldwide: This cut-off date has been advanced over four and one half years since last spring in an effort to generate new demand. After such a rapid advance of a cut-off date, applicant demand, particularly for adjustment of status cases, can be expected to increase significantly. Once applicant demand materializes the cut-off date could be significantly impacted. Little, if any, forward movement of this cut-off date is likely during the next few months.
China: Will remain at the worldwide date
India: Little if any movement
Mexico: Will remain at the worldwide date
Philippines: Three to six weeks.
EB-4: Current
EB-5: Current. However, insiders worry that a cut-off date for China could be established this summer or early fall.
New Passport Office Portends Faster Service
DOS’s Washington Passport Agency recently relocated to a new space in downtown Washington, D.C., and with its new location comes more efficient service. The agency, however, handles only urgent cases for those who need passports within two weeks or a foreign visa within a month. The new building has 90 percent more capacity to move people through, reduces the wait to 30 minutes, and in some cases can provide same-day service for new passports.
Dilip Patel of Shutts & Bowen LLP, a Florida Bar board-certified expert on immigration law, can be reached at (813) 227-8178 or e-mail [email protected]