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USCIS begins accepting electronic applications for H-1B cap-subject petitions NEXT MONTH.  Even though applicants do not file a completed petition until having been selected in the lottery, it is time to identify potential case weaknesses and how to fortify them before you file.  A common and persistent issue H-1B applicants run into every year occurs […]

It’s nearly February, and that means the electronic application for H-1B cap-subject submissions is coming right up.  At the same time, the Biden Administration’s Chief of Staff Ronald A. Klain instituted a regulatory freeze through a memorandum.  That means Final Interim Rules restricting the employer-employee relationship and specialty occupation requirements and changing the selection process […]

When USCIS finds one problem with an H-1B RFE, they tend to find more because it triggers a scrutiny of the case.  In recent years, difficult RFEs that raise two or more issues have become more and more common, including the Triple Threat RFE and the classic Nightmare RFE.  These RFEs are virtually impossible to […]

Expert opinion letters have proven the most effective strategy to prevent and answer specialty occupation and wage level H-1B RFEs.  However, USCIS will not accept just any expert opinion letter as credible.  What goes into the RIGHT expert opinion letter requires the right kind of expert and as much information as the petitioner can provide […]

Last year, USCIS introduced the electronic filing process where H-1B petitioners file a short, electronic application with basic information about the business and the beneficiaries along with a $10 fee.  If selected, the petitioner would have 90 days to complete and submit the full petition.  This process will continue this year and expected to be […]

With new rules going into effect that may or may not last until the H-1B cap-subject filing season, it is more important than ever for H-1B applicants to take precautionary measures to prevent RFEs. Over the past few years, we have seen up to three rounds of RFEs before visa approval.  This has caused H-1B […]

The easiest way to address an education RFE is to avoid one in the first place.  If you are, or if your employee or client is applying for H-1B visa status, here are three circumstances in which an credential evaluation is essential to preempt any education issues on the road to visa approval: 1. Three-Year […]

US District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton upheld the STEM OPT program by the Department of Homeland Security in a lawsuit brought against the department by the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers.  This ruling upheld that foreign graduates of accredited US academic institutions with STEM degrees work in the United States for up to three […]