H-1B Visas - Jewell Stewart Pratt Beckerson & Carr PC

H-1B Visas

USCIS Publishes Final Rule For Certain Employment-Based Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Visa Programs

Nov 18, 2016

News Release from Jewell Stewart & Pratt PC The final rule “Retention of EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 Immigrant Workers and Program Improvements Affecting High-Skilled Nonimmigrant Workers,” was published today in the Federal Register, and will take effect 60 days later...

Anomalous decision by DOL Administrative Law Judge allows deduction of H-1B visa fees from final paycheck

Nov 3, 2016

News Release from Jewell Stewart & Pratt PC On October 26, 2016, a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) found that H-1B-related legal expenditures made by the employer could be deducted from the employee's final paycheck (Administrator v....

Unannounced USCIS site visits to workplaces where H-1B and L-1 workers are employed

Aug 2, 2016

News Release from Jewell Stewart & Pratt PC The following post excerpts and adapts an American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) posting dated July 26, 2016 (AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 16072604). In a prior post we drew attention to site visits by the Fraud...

Extraordinary visa wait times at U.S. consular posts in India

Jun 15, 2016

News Release from Jewell Stewart & Pratt PC The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has reported that U.S. Consular Posts in India are experiencing extraordinary wait times for nonimmigrant visa interview appointments. The wait times for all categories...

H-1B Cap update – USCIS reports 236,000 H-1B petitions received

Apr 13, 2016

News Release from Jewell Stewart & Pratt PC Today USCIS announced that it received over 236,000 H-1B petitions in the filing period that began on April 1. On April 9 USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process (commonly known as a “lottery”) to select...

H-1B Cap reached, lottery triggered

Apr 7, 2016

News Release from Jewell Stewart & Pratt PC U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year (FY) 2017. USCIS has also received more than 20,000...

USCIS suspends premium processing for H-1B petitions where extension of stay is requested

May 29, 2015

News Release from Jewell & Associates, PC As of May 26, 2015 USCIS has temporarily suspended premium processing for all H-1B petitions where a request for extension of stay is requested. This is to allow USCIS to implement the Employment Authorization for Certain...

UPDATE: USCIS publishes information regarding H-4 EAD procedure

May 22, 2015

News Release from Jewell & Associates, PC We previously posted here about USCIS's announcement that, starting May 26, 2015, it would begin accepting applications for employment authorization from certain H-4 spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants who are in the...

H-1B Cap update – USCIS reports 233,000 H-1B petitions received

Apr 13, 2015

News Release from Jewell & Associates, PC On April 7 USCIS announced that it received approximately 233,000 H-1B petitions in the filing period that began on April 1. Today USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process (commonly known as a “lottery”) to...