Archives for April 2015

I had the pleasure to volunteer my time and service at the Citizenship Day event in Yakima, Washington where I helped permanent residents review their eligibility and prepare forms for naturalization applications.  Started by an American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) colleague back in 2004 or so, the program has become a national one in many AILA chapters.  Around 2009 or 2010, I had the good fortune as chair of the AILA Washington Citizenship Day Committee to form a partnership with … [Read more...]

Below are some alternatives for employers and current/prospective employees who were not selected for the H-1B cap cases for FY 2016 beginning October 1, 2015.  As mentioned in an earlier post, there were 233,000 applications for 85,000 slots! If you are among the two thirds of applicants who were rejected, there may be some other options available as described below.  Some of the options described below are for nationals of specified countries. They are highlighted to help employers focus on … [Read more...]

USCIS announced today that it received a whopping 233,000 H-1B visa petitions during the seven-day filing period that began April 1, 2015!  These are for "specialty occupations" that will be effective in the NEXT fiscal year (FY2016) beginning October 1, 2015. Because there were only 65,000 general category visas available plus an additional 20,000 for the advanced degree cap, that means there were more than two and a half times the number of applicants than visas that are available.  USCIS just … [Read more...]