Immigration News from the Law Office of Jocelyne J. Kim Lew, APC

On April 30, 2012, USCIS announced that as of April 27, 2012, it had received 29,200 H-1B visa petitions under the regular H-1B cap visa category (65,000 per year limit).  This is a slight dip of 200 cases being filed compared to the previous week, in that 4,200 petitions were filed compared to  4,400 petitions filed the previous week. The number of petitions filed towards the U.S. Master’s degree category (20,000 per year limit) doubled compared to the previous week in that 2,400 cases were filed instead of 1,200, so that the total now has reached 12,300. If the number of petitions filed continue at this rate, the Master’s cap could be reached within 1 month; whereas the Regular cap could be reached now as early as mid to end of June 2012.

On April 23, 2012, USCIS announced that as of April 20, 2012, it had received 25,000 H-1B visa petitions under the regular H-1B cap visa category (65,000 per year limit).  This is an increase of more than 35% compared to the previous week, so that in this past week 4,400 petitions were filed compared to 3,200 petitions filed the previous week. The number of petitions filed towards the U.S. Master’s degree category (20,000 per year limit) was slightly less in that 1,200 petitions were filed this past week compared to 1,500 the previous week, so that the total now has reached 10,900. If the number of petitions filed continue at this rate, the Master’s cap could be reached within 2 months (perhaps 7 weeks); whereas the Regular cap could be reached now much earlier, i.e. soon after the Master’s cap - so perhaps as early as the end of June 2012.

On April 17, 2012, USCIS announced that as of April 13, 2012, it had received 20,600 H-1B visa petitions under the regular H-1B cap visa category (65,000 per year limit).  This is an increase of 3,200 in one week since the first count was announced on April 9, 2012 when 17,400 petitions had been received during the first week of filing.  9,700 petitions have been filed towards the U.S. Master’s degree category (20,000 per year limit). This is an increase of 1,500 in one week since the first count was announced on April 9, 2012 when 8,200 petitions had bee received during the first week of filing.  If the number of petitions  filed continue at this rate, the Master’s cap could be reached within 2 months (perhaps 7 weeks); whereas the Regular cap could be reached within 4 months or earlier once the Master’s cap is reached.

On April 6, 2012, the U.S. State Department released the May 2012 Visa Bulletin which confirms the retrogression for Second Preference Employment based for India and China and some  movement forward for other employment based visa categories.  First Preference Employment for all countries and Second Preference Employment for the world except China and India visa numbers remain current.  India and China Second Preference Employment cut off date retrogress as projected to a cut off date of August 15, 2007.  This is due to the fact that USCIS has been adjudicating the adjustment of status cases filed since the fall of 2011.  The cut off date now will not move until October 2012.

Third Preference Employment for the World, the Philippines and Mexico moves forward by three weeks again from  April 8, 2006 to May 1, 2006.  China now moves one month  from  March 1, 2005 to April 1, 2005.  Third Preference India moves again about one week from September 1, 2002 to September 8, 2002.

On March 16, 2012, Charlie Oppenheim, Chief, Visa Control and Reporting of the Department of State, stated that he will likely retrogress India and China Employment-Based Second Preference priority dates to around August 2007, effective with either the May or June 2012 Visa Bulletin. He also advised that he projects that all EB-1 visas available in FY2012 will be used this year, resulting in no “spilldown” to EB-2.

On March 12 2012, the U.S. State Department released the April 2012 Visa Bulletin which shows continued availability and movement forward for some employment based visa categories.  First Preference Employment for all countries and Second Preference Employment for the world except China and India visa numbers remain current.  India and China Second Preference Employment cut off date has now stagnated on the cut off date of May 1, 2010.  This is likely due to the fact that USCIS has now been adjudicating the adjustment of status cases filed since the fall of 2011 - it would now seem that the cut off date may not move until October 2012.

Third Preference Employment for the World, the Philippines and Mexico moves forward by three weeks again from  March 15, 2006 to April 8, 2006.  China now moves two months  from  January 1, 2005 to March 1, 2005.  Third Preference India moves again about one week from August 22, 2002 to September 1, 2002.

On February 8, 2012, the U.S. State Department released the March 2012 Visa Bulletin which shows continued availability and movement forward for employment based visa categories.  First Preference Employment for all countries and Second Preference Employment for the world except China and India visa numbers remain current.  India and China Second Preference Employment cut off dates have progressed by four months from the cut off date of January 1, 2010 to May 1, 2010.  This more modest jump is likely due to the fact that the State Department is anticipating the filing of adjustment cases in January and February 2012 when the quota moved forward each month by one year.

Third Preference Employment for the World, the Philippines and Mexico moves forward by three weeks from  February 22, 2006 to March 15, 2006.  China also moves one month  from  December 1, 2004 to January 1, 2005.  Third Preference India moves again only one week from August 15, 2002 to August 22, 2002.

On January 9, 2012, the U.S. State Department released the February 2012 Visa Bulletin which shows continued availability and movement forward for employment based visa categories.  First Preference Employment for all countries and Second Preference Employment for the world except China and India visa numbers remain current.  India and China Second Preference Employment cut off dates have progressed by one year from the cut off date of January 1, 2009 to January 1, 2010.  This significant jump is likely due to the fact that the State Department is still unaware of the adjustment cases filed since the fall of 2011 in that USCIS has not yet adjudicated these employment based adjustment cases filed during the past four months.

Third Preference Employment for the World, the Philippines and Mexico moves forward by three weeks from  February 1, 2006 to February 22, 2006.  China also moves six  weeks  from  October 15, 2004 to December 1, 2004.  Third Preference India moves again only one week from August 8, 2002 to August 15, 2002.