Immigration Visa Attorney Blog

Last month the Brookings Institute released a study on highly skilled immigrant workers and their demand based upon geographic region within the United States. What Brookings found was that the highly coveted STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) workers who make up the majority of H-1B visas are more often finding a home in the Midwest.

Expected tech hubs such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Jose are still at the very top in terms of total H-1B requests. But when Brookings looked at the ranking of cities in terms of H-1B requests per 1,000 workers, it found the Midwest is one of the country's up-and-coming hotbed for these visas.

Continue reading "Increasing Demand for H-1B Workers in the Midwest" »

A poll conducted earlier this month seems to indicate the Obama Administration's decision to stop deporting certain undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children may not have helped boost his reputation on the issue among voters.

The Washington Post and ABC News conducted a poll asking whether or not voters approve of Obama's handling of the immigration issue. His rating was essentially identical to what it was at this point in 2010 and he received virtually the same favorable numbers as opponent Mitt Romney.

Less than 40 percent of adults polled said they approved of the job Obama was doing on issues related to immigration, while approximately half said they disapproved of his performance. Approximately 45 percent said they trusted Obama on the issue.

Voters in the eight swing states believed to be critical to the 2012 election (Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, Virginia, Vermont and Florida) polled at virtually identical numbers, thought the swing states had a slightly higher disapproval and trust percentages than the rest of the country.

Continue reading "President's new immigration policy not paying dividends with voters" »

In May the Obama administration decided to increase the parameters for Optional Practical Training (OPT) program, significantly increasing the number of fields involved. This is a somewhat significant development, potentially impacting thousands of students across the country.

For those unfamiliar with OPT, it is a temporary employment program connected with Science, Technology, Education and Mathematics (STEM) students in the United States on F-1 visas. OPT allows F-1 visa students to remain in the country and work for an additional 29 months before or after completion of their education.

In 2008 President George W. Bush added a 17-month extension to the program, increasing the maximum length of the visa from 12 months to its current parameters. To be eligible for the extension, the applicant must have received his or her STEM degree and have an employer enrolled in E-Verify.

The big change unveiled last month is that the administration is adding approximately 90 eligible fields to the total pool of OPT, with raises the number to 400. There will be no change to the 29-month limit.

Continue reading "OPT Visa Program Expanded" »

This week the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had reached the cap for H-1B petitions in FY 2013. Any petitions received by USCIS on or after June 12 will be rejected.

"June 11, 2012, was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2013," the USCIS said in a release.

With the cap season opening on April 2, that means the 85,000 (65,000 regular, 20,000 advanced degree) cap number was reached in approximately ten weeks. This is a significant change from FY 2012, which the cap wasn't filled until late November.

A number of factors explain the increase in H-1B interest this fiscal, first and foremost being a slight improvement in the U.S. economy and the resulting boost in hiring. As we've mentioned before in this space, as the country emerges from its slow-down, companies have been deciding to invest in infrastructure and are making H-1B-heavy areas like information technology a priority.

Continue reading "H-1B Cap Reached" »

Speaking last week at the tenth installment of the Wall Street Journal's "All Things Digital Conference" (ATD10), LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner told the audience he thinks H-1B visas need to be relieved of their cap restrictions.

With more than 160 million users worldwide, LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network. More than two million companies have pages on the site. The company has offices around the world and boasts approximately 2,500 full-time employees.

Weiner spoke on the first day of ATD10 alongside LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. One of the topics addressed was the issue of H-1B visas and his desire that U.S. companies be allowed to bring in more employees from overseas.

Continue reading "Leading Tech CEO says: 'Free the H-1B'" »

As of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS) May 18 report, there have been 42,000 regular (65,000) cap-eligible petitions received. Additionally the USCIS has received 16,000 petitions for the advanced degree, or 20,000, cap category.

In USCIS' previous May 11 report the cap numbers stood at 36,700 (regular) and 14,800 (advanced), respectively.

This May 18 report is the seventh of the fiscal year for USCIS. If the current rate of filing continues, the FY2013 seems likely to continue for approximately 4 or 5 more weeks.

Continue reading "H-1B FY2013 Update" »

Here is a quick update regarding H-1B cap-eligible petitions for fiscal year 2013.

As of the May 4 report, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had received 32,500 petitions for the 65,000 (regular) cap and 13,7000 petitions for the 20,000 (advanced degree) cap. This is the fifth update of the fiscal year, with petitions having been accepted starting on April 2.

In USCIS' previous (April 27) update, the cap numbers stood at 29,200 for regular petitions and 12,300 for advanced degree petitions.

At this point in FY2013, the numbers indicate that filings are being accepted at a rate of approximately 3,500 per week for the regular cap and 1,300 per week for the advanced degree cap. We believe that this rate should continue for the next month or so.

Continue reading "Update For H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions" »

The USCIS issued a revised "Q & A" regarding the establishment of employee-employer relationship with regards to H-1B. While the Q & A did not change any requirements for H-1B, it clarified that a "consulting company may be able to establish that a valid employer-employee relationship will exist."

This news appears to be in response to a January 2010 memo from Associate Director of Service Center Operations Donald Neufeld, which tackled the issue of H-1B and companies that handle consulting. The memo challenged whether or not a staffing firm could establish H-1B's required employer-employee relationship.

Under this new guideline, consulting firms can demonstrate employer-employee relationship by proving "the right to control the work of the beneficiary." This includes paying the beneficiary's salary, and if they "determine the beneficiary's location and relocations assignments and whether the petitioner will perform supervisory duties."

Continue reading "New H-1B Guidelines for consulting Firms" »

The Press Trust of India (PTI) is reporting that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received 22,000 H-1B applications in the first four days of Fiscal Year 2013.

A spokesperson for USCIS said the government has received "approximately 22,000 H-1B petitions" since FY 2013 began on April 2. The spokesperson emphasized to PTI that the numbers are preliminary.

The 22,000 figure counts petitions filed for both the regular (65,000) and advanced degree (20,000) caps.

This number marks a significant increase in first week H-1B petitions over the past few years. If accurate, 22,000 would be highest number of early applications since 2009, when USCIS received 42,000 during the first week.

A report issued last month by the National Foundation for American Policy reveals startling numbers related to the rate at which Indian visas are being denied for the H-1B and L-1 categories. The study indicates it has become far more difficult for Indian-born workers to be approved for those visas by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The raw numbers are alarming:

-H-1B denial rates for Indians rose from 2.8 percent in FY 2008 to 22.5 percent in FY 2009.

-The rate of "Requests for Evidence" (RFEs) rose from 4 percent in FY 2004 to 35 percent in FY 2008. In FY 2011 the percent of RFE was at 26 percent.

The NFAP points out in its conclusion that USCIS "adjudicators and/or others at the agency have made it far more difficult for skilled foreign nationals to work in America." The result, of course, is that "this is causing companies to consider moving more work out of the United States to ensure more predictability and avoid the difficulties of the U.S. immigration system."

Continue reading "Study Reveals Sad State of Indian H-1B Visa Approval" »

Mark Warner, a member of the United States Senate from Virginia, says he will look into concerns regarding recent H-1B denials to applicants from India.

Warner is the co-chair of the Senate India Caucus. This month he spent a week in the country as part of a Congressional delegation. During the trip Warner was informed that some Indian companies believe the percentage of H-1B visas denials in their country has been higher than other parts of the world.

Warner said that in response to the concerns he has recently introduced legislation which would examine the U.S. visa issue and take a look at providing green cards to foreign nationals who graduate from American universities and wish to work in the country.

Warner has said he's in favor of removing the caps on H-1B visas and introducing "additional opportunities for Indian H-1Bs."

Continue reading "US Senator To Look at Indian H-1B Denials" »

In a down economy with higher unemployment, it is easy for programs like H-1B to be cast as standing in the way of Americans finding new and higher paying jobs. Our readers here in Columbus, Ohio have heard us challenge that narrative on a number of occasions.

And that is why a recently released study by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research has the potential to be of significant benefit in terms of public opinion on the issue.

AEI's study contains a number of eye-opening findings, foremost among them that an average of 262 new jobs for Americans can be linked to every 100 foreign-born workers graduating from U.S. universities with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The study looked at the eight-year period between 2000 and 2007.

"Immigrants with advanced degrees boost employment for US natives," the report says in its executive summary.

Continue reading "Columbus, OH Attorney: Study Details Benefit of Skilled Immigrants to Job Creation" »

A somewhat unusual idea for sidestepping U.S. visa practice has been making headlines the past few weeks. Regardless of whether it ends up becoming a reality, the existence of the plan does an excellent job of framing the modern immigration debate.

The program in question is called Blueseed. The brainchild of CEO Max Marty and President Dario Mutabdzija, the idea is a living and office space located in a large boat or barge approximately ten miles off the coast of Northern California.

It would house individuals or corporations of all nationalities and provide the ability to take day trips to California using temporary visas. "Existing visa policies were designed for a different era," Marty told the New York Times.

Continue reading "Columbus, OH Attorney on the floating, "technology incubator" " »

Readers of the blog know that reform with respect to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor and H-1B visa programs are topics we touch on rather frequently. (Entries can be found HERE and HERE.)

Which is why we find a recent speech by Michigan governor Rick Snyder incredibly positive in terms of bringing attention to what those at the state level are seeing. His remarks are especially relevant to our friends in Troy, Michigan, given the importance of job creation in the state.

In an address last week at Delta College, Snyder said he would petition Homeland Security to make permanent the EB-5 program, which is set to expire in September of 2012. "The EB-5 foreign investor program provides international investors the chance to live here by investing in Michigan's economy and creating job," he said.

EB-5 grants permanent U.S. residence to foreign nationals investing at least $1 million into a business that creates or maintains ten jobs. Other components of the program include a $500,000 category for investment in designated areas with high unemployment.

Continue reading "Michigan governor to push for EB-5, H-1B reform" »

A recent report on the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) paints a disturbing picture of the how the organization charged with overseeing lawful immigration in this country operates. We feel it provides some useful insight for our readers and clients in Columbus, Ohio and Troy, Michigan.

In a report dated November 22, auditors from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that a $1.7 billion project to modernize operations at USCIS has been plagued by unreliability related to cost and planning.

In late 2008 USCIS awarded a technology and services project to IBM that was supposed to "move the agency to a new centralized and consolidated electronic environment that will enable faster, more efficient and accurate immigration benefits determination and processing." The contract was initially given $491.1 million in options for five years.

Continue reading "Columbus, OH attorney on report of USCIS mismanagement" »