Dhanani Law Firm

H-1B numbers moving rapidly

rahim — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:13:16 +0000

The number of H-1B filings this year seems to be moving along at a much faster pace than in the past few years. Last year USCIS issued a press release on April 8, 2011 stating that 5,900 petitions had been filed in the first week of the filing period and it took until November 23, 2011 for all 65,000 H-1Bs to be used up. This year, USCIS issued a press release on April 9, 2012 stating that it had received 17,400 in the first week of the filing period. In other words, the number of H-1B petitions filed in the first week of 2011 compared to the first week of 2012 has almost tripled!

As of May 11, 2012, USCIS has counted 36,700 petitions against the 65,000 cap and 14,800 towards the 20,000 available Master’s Degree exemption. I’m not an economist but this appears to be a good sign that the economy is picking up and that unemployment generally is decreasing. The other nugget to take away from these numbers is that if you plan on filing an H-1B petition you should hurry up! At the current pace of filings, all 65,000 visas are likely to be used up way before November 2012.

SCOTUS immigration oral arguments this week

rahim — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:14:22 +0000

The United States Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments regarding Arizona’s immigration law this Wednesday, April 25^th. The question presented is whether federal immigration laws preclude Arizona’s efforts at cooperative law enforcement and impliedly preempt four provisions of S.B. 1070, which were enjoined by the lower courts, on their face. The audio recording of the arguments will be made available by the Supreme Court this Friday and can be downloaded from the Supreme Court’s website at: http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_audio.aspx

H-1B season starts April 1st.

rahim — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 02:04:06 +0000

H-1B season for fiscal year 2013 starts April 1, 2012. For first-time H-1B employees, a company can apply for an individual beginning April 1 but the H-1B will not be valid for employment until October 1. When the economy was robust and unemployment was relatively low all 65,000 available H-1Bs were snapped up on April 1 and applicants had to compete in a lottery to receive their H-1B. As we all know, unemployment has been very high for the past few years. Consequently, over the past few years, the 65,000 H-1Bs have not all been allocated on April 1. It has typically taken for several months for all 65,000 H-1Bs to be allocated. Last year (2011) USCIS announced that all 65,000 were used up in November. If past trends are an indicator of what this year will look like, we can safely assume that all 65,000 will not be allocated on April 1 of this year and that it will again likely take several months for the quota to be filled up. To learn more about the H-1B visa visit Dhanani Law Firm’s H-1B page at: http://usavisaimmigration.com/business-immigration/nonimmigrant/h-1b/

Notario fraud

rahim — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:18:55 +0000

A sad reality of the American immigration process is that immigrants are sometimes taken advantage of. One common way that this happens is when immigrants put their immigration status and their lives in the hands of unqualified people who are not licensed to practice law. These unlicensed predators are commonly known as “notarios” in the immigration law community. Notarios often-times prepare immigration documents on behalf of unsuspecting immigrants without thoroughly understanding the legal implication of what they are doing. The results can be tragic, resulting in deportation and separation from family in the United States. Sadly, notarios are often only interested in taking the immigrant’s money and could care less as to the outcome of the immigrant’s case. Since the notario is not licensed to practice law, the immigrant is left with little recourse when s/he is defrauded by the notario.

Protect yourself and your immigrant friends and family from notario fraud. To learn more about notario fraud and how to protect yourself visit http://www.stopnotariofraud.org/. http://www.stopnotariofraud.org/ is sponsored by the American Immigration Lawyers Association and is provided as a public service to the immigrant community.

Your rights under E-verify

rahim — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 02:15:40 +0000

In Georgia and throughout the United States some employers are required to use the E-verify program (Check out this blog post for more information on E-verify requirements imposed by Georgia’s new immigration law http://usavisaimmigration.com/2011/07/17/summary-of-georgia-immigration-law/). Here’s a link to a useful video from USCIS regarding your E-verify rights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFUe_Fkvtzk.

US Supreme Court to hear immigration arguments

rahim — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:03:05 +0000

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments regarding Arizona’s immigration law. The court’s decision will have an effect on immigration laws passed in other states including Georgia. Here is a link to an article from msnbc which has the basics of what’s at stake. http://nbcpolitics.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/12/9389268-high-court-to-look-at-state-immigration-laws

H-1B cap reached

rahim — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:41:42 +0000

USCIS issued a press release on November 23, 2011 stating that as of November 22^,2011 all 65,000 H-1B petitions for the fiscal year have been used up. Only eight days earlier they issued a press release saying 56,300 had been used up! I’m skeptical that 8,700 petitions were filed within eight days. The inaccurate counting and reporting of H-1B petitions filed wreaks havoc for employers and employees. Companies and their immigration attorneys planned to file H-1B petitions over the next couple of months based on the USCIS press releases only to find out that 8,700 petitions were “filed” within the span of eight days. Consequently, these companies will have to revise key employment decisions that were months in the making.

H-1B count as of November 2011

rahim — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:32:44 +0000

As of November 14, 2011, all 20,000 H-1B Masters Exempt H-1B visas have been taken. In addition, USCIS is reporting that 56,300 of the 65,000 regular cap H-1Bs have been taken. At this rate the remaining H-1Bs for the year should be used up within the next month or two. If you were planning on filing an H-1B it would be a good idea to file immediately. The next opportunity to apply for H-1Bs after all 65,000 have been taken is April 2012 and those new beneficiaries that are approved in April 2012 will not be able to work in H-1B status until October 2012.

Obama’s deportation record

rahim — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:20:41 +0000

The Obama administration has proven itself an unlikely stalwart in the removal of illegal immigrants from the United States. Many who are skeptical of the administration’s immigration policy were surprised to read an October 18, 2011 News Release issued by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement which boasted that it had removed 396,906 individuals from the United States which is the largest number of removals in the history of the agency. This isn’t really a surprise for immigration attorneys but the media has taken note of these numbers in various articles this week and last week. Some interesting statistics from the News Release include the removal of 216,698 people who were convicted of felonies or misdemeanors including 1,119 convicted of homicide; 5,848 convicted of sex offenses; 44,653 convicted of drug related crimes and 35,972 convicted of driving under the influence.

Entrepreneurs in Residence

rahim — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:25:13 +0000

On October 11, 2011 USCIS issued a press release announcing its “Entrepreneurs in Residence” initiative. “This new innovative initiative will utilize industry expertise to strengthen USCIS policies and practices surrounding immigrant investors, entrepreneurs and workers with specialized skills, knowledge, or abilities.”

The initiative appears to be designed to obtain critical feedback from the public and private sector regarding employment based immigration and how to maximize America’s benefit from such programs. USCIS will be conducting a series of informational summits with industry leaders and then create a team comprised of entrepreneurs, industry experts and USCIS personnel to design and implement effective solutions. According to the press release, “The initiative builds upon USCIS’s August announcement of efforts to promote startup enterprises and spur job creation, including enhancements to the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program”.

The immigration debate in America often lumps various aspects of immigration into one bucket when the reality is that US immigration has various components to it. This initiative is a good start in fixing the business immigration component. The reality is that many of the employment visas are issued to entrepreneurs who create jobs for Americans. We need all the help we can get in this economy!