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As a reminder to all U.S. employers, H-1B season is almost here! United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will start accepting new H-1B petitions for fiscal year 2017 on Friday, April 1, 2016. As such, employers should start immediately identifying current and future employees who will require sponsorship for new H-1B petitions. Continue reading “Planning Ahead: H-1Bs for FY2017”
Since 2010, dependent employers have been required to pay an additional filing fee of $2,000 for certain H-1B petitions and $2,250 for certain L-1A and L-1B petitions. Continue reading “Filing Fees Lowered for H-1B and L-1 Dependent Employers”
As of today, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) will resume accepting premium processing requests for H-1B extensions. Any premium processing request for H-1B extensions received prior to July 13, 2015 will be rejected. Continue reading “USCIS Resumes Premium Processing Service for H-1B Extensions”
United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced today that it has reached the congressionally mandated H-1B cap for fiscal year 2016. Continue reading “H-1B Cap For FY 2016 Has Been Reached”
To obtain an H-1B visa, a petitioner must demonstrate that the proposed position it intends for the beneficiary to fill qualifies as a specialty occupation and that the beneficiary is qualified for that position. Continue reading “Navigating H-1B Requirements: The Degree Must Relate to the Specialty Occupation”
As a reminder to all U.S. employers, H-1B season is on the horizon! United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will start accepting new H-1B petitions for fiscal year 2016 on Wednesday, April 1, 2015. As such, employers should start immediately identifying current and future employees who will require sponsorship for new H-1B petitions. Continue reading “H-1B Season is Almost Upon Us”
Under the Immigrant and Nationality Act (“INA”), the hiring of a foreign worker must not adversely affect the wages or working conditions of similarly situated U.S. workers. The INA was also designed to protect foreign workers from being exploited. To make sure that does not happen, the INA requires employers to, among other things, pay foreign workers here on H1-B visas at least the local prevailing wage. Continue reading “To Amend, or Not to Amend?”
Quite often employers ask, “If it doesn’t work out, can we recover all the money we have spent on the H-1B process from the employee?” The short is answer to this repeatedly asked question is no. Department of Labor (DOL) regulations are clear that the employer must pay the filing fees and may not allow the worker to pay it directly, by deduction from wages or in any other fashion. DOL regulations say that the H-1B costs and fees are employer business expenses and exclude those fees and costs from the list of “authorized deductions.” (Read more about deductions for an H-1B worker’s pay.) Continue reading “A Cautionary Tale for H-1B Employers”