BLOG

One of the most common RFEs H-1B applicants have faced over the past few years is the wage level issue RFE.  Beneficiaries working at wage level one are particularly at risk for this RFE because USCIS assumes that this indicates the position is entry level, and in some cases this call into question whether the […]

USCIS just announced that submissions to be entered into the electronic H-1B lottery will take place between March 1st and March 20th, 2020.  The submission fee is $10, and a completed petition is not required. Applicants selected will have 90 days to complete the filing. If you, or if your employee or client is selected […]

USCIS has announced that starting in 2020, H-1B petitions will be filed in a new electronic manner that streamlines the process. Between March 1st and March 20th, 2020, employers must register online to submit H-1B employees’ names into a lottery.  Through an electronic selection process, beneficiaries chosen will be given a registration number, through which […]

Expert opinion letters have meant the difference between rejection and approval since USCIS adjudication practices surrounding various aspects of H-1B eligibility have changed. An expert opinion letter can address wage level issues, specialty occupation issues, and employer-employee relationship issues, and your expert opinion letter ought to address all three in one.  However, even the right […]

The past few years have not been easy on the H-1B program.  Now, over the next few months, new regulations surrounding immigration to the United States will be introduced that will continue to impact H-1B beneficiaries, the employers that hire them, and the lawyers who represent them.  Next month, December 2019, DHS announced they will […]

The Specialty Occupation RFE has become the scourge of H-1B hopefuls and their teams, and they are impacting occupations that had never been called into question before 2017.  With the high rate of H-1B RFEs, it is important to understand what Specialty Occupation means, how the burden of proof as shifted in the past few […]

IT professionals have been hit the hardest by current USCIS policy changes to restrict the H-1B program without statutory basis.  In 2015, the Denial rate for H-1B petitions was just 6%.  This year, that number has reached 24% across industries, but IT companies have been hit the hardest. Twelve IT companies that saw Denial rates […]

Following the Trump Administration’s “Buy American and Hire American” policy, USCIS declassified documents show that approval standards for H-1B visas have changed without statutory basis.  This has led to a massive spike in RFEs and Denials for H-1B petitions – both for initial filings, and for H-1B extensions for cases that had previously been approved. […]

With the rising rate of H-1B denials being overturned in appeals and recently declassified USCIS memos that clearly showed restrictions to H-1B approval without legal basis, it is clear that USCIS is issuing RFEs for approvable petitions. H-1B extension petitions for the same jobs, beneficiaries, and petitioners that have already been approved are getting RFEs […]