USCIS received 1,700 H-1B cap subject petitions between August 27th and September 3rd, an increase of 700 compared to the previous week. Thus, the number of H-1B cap subject petitions filed now totals 36,600. Filings against the 20,000 Master’s or higher cap continues at the same pace; this past week 400 petitions were again received, so the total has now reached 13,400 petitions.
USCIS received 1,000 H-1B cap subject petitions between August 21st and August 27th, a significant decrease compared to the 4, 200 H-1B cap subject petitions received the previous week. Thus, the number of H-1B cap subject petitions filed now totals 34,900. Whereas the filings against the 20,000 Master’s or higher cap continues at the same pace; this past week 400 petitions were received, so the total has now reached 13,000 petitions.
In one week (between August 14, 2010 and August 20, 2010), USCIS received more than triple the number of H-1B cap subject petitions compared to the previous week, i.e. USCIS received 4, 200 H-1B cap subject petitions against the 65,000 cap; the number of petitions filed now total more than half of the limit i.e. 33,900 filings. Whereas the filings against the 20,000 Master’s or higher cap continued at the same pace; this past week 300 more petitions were received, so the total now reached 12,600 petitions.
On August 14, 2010, Public Law 111-230 became effective. Some of its provisions affect certain H-1B and L-1A/B visa petitioners (sponsoring employers). The change in the law results in an additional fee for H-1B/L-1A/B visa petitioners, if they fall into the following category:
1. The petitioner (sponsoring employer) has 50 or more employees (full-time or part-time) in the U.S.; and
2. The petitioner’s (sponsoring employer’s) U.S. workforce consists of more than 50% of employees on H-1B, L-1A/B visas and L-2 visas with an EAD card (full-time or part-time).
A petitioner, who meets these two criteria, will then need to pay an additional fee each time it first files an H-1B or L-1A or L-1B for a beneficiary:
H-1B visa petition - $2,000
L-1A/B visa petition – $2,250
Any petitions filed after August 14, 2010, where the petitioner (sponsoring employer) may fall into the above-described category will be issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) to determine if this new additional fee is required. The petitioner (sponsoring employer) must pay the fee, the beneficiary (employee) may not pay this fee. USCIS will soon be publishing a new Form I-129, with instructions, which will address this new fee.
As of August 13, 2010, USCIS received another 1,200 H-1B cap subject petitions against the 65,000 cap; the number of petitions filed totaled 29,700. As for the 20,000 Master’s or higher cap, 400 more petitions were received, so the total reached 12,300 petitions. In this past week, USCIS received the same number of H-1B cap subject petitions from the previous week. The number of petitions filed against the MS or higher cap increased by 100 from the usual 300 petitions to 400 petitions from the previous weeks.
The September 2010 Visa Bulletin released by the U.S. State Department shows continued availability for First Preference Employment for all countries and Second Preference Employment for the world except China and India. Another movement forward has occurred for India and China Second Preference Employment, so that the new cut off date is May 8, 2006 for both countries. Visa numbers have not yet been exhausted for this fiscal year which ends September 30 - thus this forward movement of the cut off date has resulted.
Third Preference India has remained unchanged with a cut off date of January 1, 2002. Third Preference for the World and the Philippines moves forward by 6.5 months from June 1, 2004 to December 15, 2004; whereas China moves one month from September 22, 2003 to October 22, 2003, while Mexico remains unavailable.
Another week of filing, so that as of August 6, 2010, USCIS received another 1,200 H-1B cap subject petitions against the 65,000 cap; the number of petitions filed totaled 28,500. As for the 20,000 Master’s or higher cap, 300 more petitions were received, so the total reached 11,900 petitions. In this past week, USCIS received approximately the same number of H-1B cap subject petitions from the previous week. The number of petitions filed against the MS or higher cap remained constant at 300 from the previous weeks.
Between July 23, 2010 and July 30, 2010, USCIS received 1,300 H-1B cap subject petitions against the 65,000 cap, so that the number of petitions filed totaled 27,300. As for the 20,000 Master’s or higher cap, 300 petitions had been received, so the total reached 11,600 petitions. In one week, USCIS received almost double the number of H-1B cap subject petitions from the previous week. The number of petitions filed against the MS or higher cap remained constant at 300 from the previous week.
As of July 23, 2010, USCIS had received 26,000 H-1B cap subject petitions against the 65,000 cap. As for the 20,000 Master’s or higher cap, 11,300 petitions had been received. In one week, USCIS received 700 new H-1B cap subject petitions, this is thirty percent fewer petitions than in the immediately preceding week. The number of petitions filed against the MS or higher cap also dropped from the previous week.
As of July 16, 2010, USCIS had received 25,300 H-1B cap subject petitions against the 65,000 cap. As for the 20,000 Master’s or higher cap, 11,000 petitions had been received. In one week, USCIS received more than 1,000 new H-1B cap subject petitions, this is almost double the umber of petitions received in the immediately preceding week. The number of petitions filed against the MS or higher cap also doubled from the previous week.