Tag: 2018财年H-1B申请

USCIS to Resume H-1B Premium Processing for Certain Cap-Exempt Petitions

Today, USCIS announced that it has resumed premium processing for certain cap-exempt H-1B petitions. Premium processing will resume for petitions that may be exempt from the cap if the H-1B petitioner is:

  • * An institution of higher education;
  • * A nonprofit related to or affiliated with an institution of higher education; or
  • * A nonprofit research or governmental research organization.

Effective immediately, those cap-exempt petitioners who are eligible for premium processing can file Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker. Form I-907 can be filed together with an H-1B petition or separately for a pending H-1B petition. On June 26, 2017, USCIS resumed premium processing for H-1B petitions filed on behalf of physicians under the Conrad 30 waiver program and interested government agency waivers.

纵览2018财年H-1B申请情况

 

移民局2017年4月11日宣布，已经采用计算机随机选择过程或彩票选择足够的H-1B申请，以满足2017年度的65,000个一般类别 (Regular Cap) 和20,000个高级学位 (Master’s Cap) 的名额。移民局将拒绝并返还所有未选择以及重复的申请。 USCIS在4月3日开始的申请期间收到了199,000份H-1B申请。这一数字比去年申请期间的23.3万份申请减少了15.7％。虽然总体申请数量与去年相比有所减少，但今年是连续第五年USCIS在H-1B申请的第一周内就接受足够的申请。

尽管H-1B申请是经济改善工作机会提高的证据，但是今年提交的申请少了也并不奇怪。印度的一些信息技术公司之前就宣布，他们正在减少提交经验较少的H-1B工人人数，这意味着更多的工作将留在印度而不是迁往美国。另外，去年来说，有些小型信息技术公司面临审查，表示会提出较少的H-1B申请。其他的话，很多雇主被H-1B签证的限制所阻挠，可能更不愿意赞助来自美国学校的外国毕业生。

自1997年以来，H-1B上限已经达到了财政年度以来的每一年，除了上限暂时上调至195,000的几年之外。

USCIS Bought Back Certain H-1B Visa Premium Processing After a Long Halt

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has brought back premium processing for certain CAP exempt petitions.

On April 3, 2017, USCIS halted premium processing of H-1B visa petitions, for up to six months. While H-1B premium processing is suspended, petitioners will not be able to file Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service for a Form I-129. Prior to the halt, employers can request premium processing of H-1B petitions to ensure that USCIS will review the petition within 15 days at a cost of $1,225. Most non-premium processing types of H-1B petitions are currently averaging 6 to 8 months processing time. This suspension will apply to all H-1B regular cap and master’s cap petitions filed for the FY18 H-1B.

The only option for H-1B employers is that they may submit requests to expedite an H-1B petition if they meet the Expedite Criteria. The employer must meet one of these concerns concerns as “severe financial loss,” “emergency situation” or “humanitarian reasons.”

USCIS said the halt is necessary to adjudicate long-pending petitions before the high volume of incoming petitions. However, the plan may cause significant impact on the fee-funded USCIS’s revenue.