Immigration Attorney Jessica Meng

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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2012 on November 23, 2011. USCIS is notifying the public that Nov. 22, 2011, was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012.

Properly filed cases will be considered received on the date that USCIS physically receives the petition; not the date that the petition was postmarked. USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY 2012 that arrive after Nov. 22, 2011. 

As of Oct. 19, 2011, USCIS had also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the ‘advanced degree’ exemption. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. In addition, petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap will not be counted toward the FY 2012 H-1B cap. Accordingly, USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions filed to:

• extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the U.S.;
• change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;
• allow current H-1B workers to change employers; and
• allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.

A California businessman last week was sentenced to six months in prison for giving H-1B visa job offers that did not exist.

Srinivasa Chennupati, a native of Indian, 33, pled guilty in December to visa fraud. Chennupati admitted that starting on April 1, 2009, he submitted 11 foreign worker petitions to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that contained “counterfeit job offer letters” from the Gap Corporation, Wells Fargo Bank and Genentech. The jobs listed in the petitions were for computer systems analysts and software engineers that would be paid between $60,000 and $65,000.

Chennupati opened his business as a headhunter to match employers in the U.S. with potential employees in India who would receive H-1B visas. In 2008, the company legally filed 10 H-1B petitions. In 2009, the business filed for 19 additional H-1B visas, 11 of which were fraudulent, according to the court.

When you apply for a reentry permit, you will receive a biometrics notice in about one month after submitting the application. You must finish the biometrics procedure before leave the U.S.  People between ages 14 to 79 must complete biometrics service, otherwise, your reentry permit application can be denied.  Children under age 14 do not need to pay biometrics fee, but because of other reason (such as unclear photo), they may receive biometrics requirement notice.  According to our experience, when the children receive biometrics notice, they need to complete the biometrics requirement.  Otherwise, their reentry permit application will be rejected.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that H-1B petitions  reached the statutory cap for fiscal year (FY) 2011 on Jan. 27, 2011.  USCIS notified the public that Jan. 26, 2011 was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY2011.

The final receipt date is the date on which USCIS determines that it has received enough cap-subject petitions to reach the limit of 65,000.  Properly filed cases will be considered received on the date that USCIS physically receives the petition; not the date that the petition was postmarked.  USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY2011 that arrive after Jan. 26, 2011.

USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions filed to:

• extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the U.S.;
• change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;
• allow current H-1B workers to change employers; and allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.