Questions on the July Visa Bulletin Update

Several of our readers are asking about the effect of the July Visa Bulletin Update on the status of the priority dates. The Department of State was forced to retract the first announcement due to the unprecedented use of about 60,000 employment visa numbers even before the update took effect. The visa limit for the fiscal year 2007 has been made available for the employment based category, and will open again in October for the fiscal year 2008.

Since the visa numbers were allocated and made available in July for the fiscal year 2007, it is advised that anyone who is scheduled for a consular interview this month should go. It was confirmed that those who got an appointment interviews for this month will have their visas available for them.

It is still not very clear as to whether the USCIS will return the previously filed applications in response to the July Visa Bulletin posted in June. However, there is a big chance that once the application is received within the first week of July that it will not be returned. Despite the Department of State’s announcement of the July Visa Bulletin Revision, the posted update for July made in June remained unchanged. The DOS only wants to inform the public that however the visa priority dates are current and available, that they can no longer authorize further applications made after July 2^nd. This is hopefully a step in resolving the retrogression starting the fiscal year 2008.

New Visas withdrawn

The U.S. State Department has withdrawn its earlier statement that is would be ending retrogression and making available 60,000 new work related visas for 2007. Many people rushed to prepare their paperwork to file for a new visa only to have the State Department take them back at the last minute without granting any additional visas. Immigration lawyers in the US are very upset and have lodged complaints with the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security over this action and the hardship it has caused for their clients. The State Department states that they will begin accepting applications on October 1st for 2008 visas, but the applications fees will be rising on July 30th so prepare to pay significantly more for a 2008 filing.

Retrogression of Priority Dates Ceases for the meantime

After seeing a significant movement on the priority dates for the employment based, or Schedule A visas, for Filipino Nurses the past month, the Department of State has updated the Visa Bulletin for July 2007 to a current "C" status.  This means that all the applications affected by the retrogression of October 2006 are going to be scheduled for an interview once their approved petitions are forwarded to the embassies through the National Visa Center (NVC).  There may be an expected delay in receiving an appointment date due to the bulk of approved petitions now ready for interview.  The USCIS is accepting I-140 and I-485 applications again.  There is no assurance that the retrogression will be permanently ceased and we may expect another retrogression if no good resolution for the nursing shortage will be passed in the US Congress before October of this year.

For those who have patiently waited for this very good news on retrogression, congratulations from Filipino Nurses 2 US. 

When do I expect my receipt notice for H1-B

Upon the announcement of reaching the visa caps for both regular and advanced degree H1-B applications within the first month of filing, the USCIS is experiencing a delay in receipting the petitions. So far, only Nebraska and Texas Service Centers are sending out receipt notices in a timely manner.   The USCIS expects to catch up with the delay in receipting at the other service centers: California and Vermont, by June.  To ensure accurate information or status on your application is provided by the USCIS, they ask for thirty days upon your expected receipt notice date before inquiring with them.  This does not apply to you if you have applied for a premium processing of your application.

You can refer to the USCIS website to check the Processing Dates .

H1-B Visa Cap for the Fiscal Year 2008 Reached

The H1-B visa cap for the entire year of 2008 was filled within only one month of filing.  If the regular H1-B visa cap of 65,000 was reached on the first day of filing, which fell on April 2nd, the visa cap of 20,000 for the advanced degree H1-B was reached on the 30th of April.  The same procedure with the regular H1-B will be conducted in all the applications on the first day when the cap was reached for advanced degree H1-B.  All the applications accepted on April 30th will be subject to random lottery as part of the standard procedure of the USCIS. Applications which are not randomly selected will be returned with the corresponding filing fees.  The successful applicants for both regular and advanced degree H1-B applications will be processed according to the receipt date.  Visa issuance for the successful applicants for the fiscal year 2008 will start on October 1, 2007.  You may check with the USCIS website for the status of your application or Processing Dates .

Congratulations to all who made it for the fiscal year 2008!

Update on H1-B for Advanced Degree Holders

As of April 25th, 2007, the number of petitions received for Advanced Degree H1-Bs is 19,172. This means that the visa cap of 20,000 is almost reached and only a few more advanced degree holder have the chance to file for the fiscal year 2008. 7,982 petitions have been approved so far, and 10,717 have been receipted, while 473 more are yet to be receipted for processing. Good luck to all those who have filed advanced degree H1B application for 2008.

SKIL Act, H-1B Bills Introduced in the Senate

During the weeks preceding and following the first day of H-1B filing, members of the Senate introduced three bills aimed at reforming U.S. visa programs for highly skilled foreign workers or providing temporary relief from the H-1B cap.                               

SKIL Act (S. 1083)

On 4/10/07, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced the Securing Knowledge, Innovation and Leadership (SKIL) Act of 2007 (S. 1083). Although the bill text is not yet available, the act is expected to propose reforms to address the restrictive H-1B visa cap and alleviate the employment-based green card backlogs. Senator Cornyn authored the bill; original cosponsors include Senators Allard (R-CO), Bennett (R-UT), Hutchison (R-TX), and Lott (R-MS).                               

High-Tech Worker Relief Act (S. 1092)

On 4/11/07, Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) introduced the High-Tech Worker Relief Act (S. 1092). Unlike the broader provisions of the SKIL Act, this bill focuses more narrowly on providing temporary relief from the H-1B cap. The text of S.1092 is available on AILA’s Proposed Legislation page.                               

H-1B and L-1 Visa Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act (S. 1035)

On 3/29/07, Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) introduced the H-1B and L-1 Visa Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act (S. 1035). In contrast to the above bills, S. 1035 would create new restrictions and requirements for the H-1B and L-1 visa programs. AILA opposes this bill. The text of S.1035 is available on AILA’s Proposed Legislation page.                               

Source:  Aila InfoNet                         

20,000 H1-B Visa Cap Exemption Remains Open

On April 10, 2007, the USCIS announced only 12, 989 H1-B cases had been filed on April 2nd and 3rd for foreign workers with advanced degrees.  This means that the H1-B visa cap exemption of 20,000 for the Fiscal Year 2008 remains open.  The USCIS will continue sorting the cases filed from April 4th and so on until the H1-B visa cap exemption of 20,000 is reached.  These are the cases requesting exemption from the FY 2008 H1-B visa cap as they have advanced degrees, that is they hold a Master's degree or higher from a US institution. 

As per the regular H1-B visa petitions,  the USCIS has announced that as of April 9th, 119,193 regular H1-B cases received on April 2nd and 3rd are subject to the FY 2008 65,000 congressionally mandated visa cap.  Receipt notices will be sent out once the USCIS finishes sorting out all the qualifying cases. 

We will continue to provide updates on the FY 2008 H1-B visa cap.

More information on H1B Visas

The USCIS has released a new Update on this years H1B Visa filings (The pdf can be viewed here). It states that USCIS expected to receive 150,000 H1B mailings on April 2nd and 3rd, but that the actual number was only 133,000. However each mailing may contain more than one application so the true number will not be known until USCIS has time to open and sort all the mailings. So far 14% of the applications have been from people holding a Master's Degree or higher from a US institution and those people do not count towards the visa limit, so if you did get your application in on the 2nd or 3rd you still have a good chance of getting your visa this year. Once the mail sorting is completed USCIS will use a computer-generated random selection to determine which qualified applicants will receive a visa this year. Good luck to all the applicants!

2008 H1-B Visa Cap Reached on the First Day

The USCIS confirmed today, April 3rd, that the alloted number of H1-B visas for the fiscal year of 2008 was reached on the very first day of filing as expected.  The visa cap was reached on April 2, 2007, which was considered the first day of filing.  Under the USCIS regulations, a random lottery will be performed if the cap limit is reached on the first day of filing.  The random selection will come from the first two days of filing, which will be the April 2nd and 3rd.  All H1-B petitions for those two days will undergo data entry before a random selection process will be conducted.  This will determine which petitions will receive the cap numbers.

The lengthy data entry and random lottery will take several weeks to finish due to the volume of petitions received at the USCIS.  All the H1-B visa petitions that will not be selected will be rejected and returned along with filing fees.