Last Friday, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that it had received enough electronic registrations during the initial period to reach the FY-2021 H-1B numerical allocations (65,000 for regular cap and 20,000 for the US advanced degree exemption). USCIS also announced that it had conducted the registration selection for the H-1B lottery. Over the weekend, petitioners and their authorized representatives began receiving registration selection notices.
Our firm has begun reaching out to petitioners and selected registrants to provide notification of the lottery selection. For our clients that paid to have their cases prioritized, we will draft and file these cases as soon as possible. For our remaining selected cap cases, we will draft and submit these cases as expeditiously as possible, within the 90-day window provided by the selection notices.
If a registration is not selected by March 31, 2020, it will remain in “submitted” status in case USCIS later determines that it requires additional registrations to meet the statutory quota. In other words, if USCIS does not approve a sufficient number of petitions, or if some selected registrants do not ultimately file with USCIS, there remains the possibility that a “submitted” registration may still be selected. Given the uncertainty of being on the “waitlist,” we will work with employers and registrants to explore other potentially available immigration options. By September 30, 2020, the status of all “submitted’ registrations will have been changed to “Selected,” “Not Selected,” or “Denied.”
Like in past years, USCIS previously announced the temporary seasonal suspension of premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, USCIS a day later announced the temporary suspension of premium processing for all I-129 and I-140 petitions. While we expect USCIS to resume premium processing for H-1B cap-subject petitions in accordance with USCIS’ initial timeline communicated on March 20th, we will of course be monitoring USCIS updates. In their prior announcement, USCIS confirmed it would resume the service for F-1 change of status petitions no later than May 27, and resume the service for all other cap-subject H-1B petitions on June 29 at the earliest.
Our firm will continue to provide updates regarding cap selection and provide prompt notification of the availability of premium processing. Please contact a member of our legal team if you have any questions. If you are awaiting confirmation we wish you good luck in the selection!
Important Coronavirus Update Webinars:
Key Immigration Updates Caused by Response to Coronavirus
Please join David Brown, Managing Partner of Brown Immigration Law, for guidance on how to best manage the impact of the current pandemic on U.S. immigration issues. This is a planned 45 minute update on all the key compliance issues of concern for employers and their foreign staff created by COVID-19 changes. David has been managing employment-based immigration issues for over 22 years, and although this pandemic is wholly unprecedented, he has worked through other interesting periods in our immigration history that offer guidance for this situation.
As we know, there is new news every hour of every day, and this is an evolving problem that is constantly changing.
David will synthesize the most important immigration topics you are facing as employers and HR today, including:
- the effects on employees working from home;
- how travel restrictions apply to foreign nationals (my visa is expiring soon but I do not want to return to a travel-restricted country);
- how government office closures will impact filing options; and
- the impact of remote instruction at many colleges and universities on student status, and potential issues with graduation delay for OPT (Master Cap filings).
This is just a sample of issues our clients are confronting and that David will discuss. After the initial presentation, David will stay for an extended Q&A period to provide as many answers as possible.
This Webinar covers the same subject matter as our previous presentation in March – however, as updates are provided they are added to the presentation. This airing will be the most up-to-date yet, and if you haven’t attended a prior webinar, you really should plan to attend. As this is a dynamic process with the information changing, we will continue to update clients on what to expect.
If you have specific questions you would like answered, please send us your question in advance to info@brownimmigrationlaw.com.
For Healthcare Clients – Coronavirus Updates that May Impact the Hiring of Medical Professionals
Please join David Brown, Managing Partner of Brown Immigration Law, for guidance on how to best manage the impact of the current pandemic on U.S. immigration issues affecting Health Care workers. Given the pandemic the government is shifting to ease restrictions on the availability of foreign medical professionals, but at the same time many hurdles remain. This is a planned 45 minute update on all the key compliance issues of concern for Hospitals and those who employ Healthcare workers. David has been managing employment-based immigration issues for over 22 years, and has assisted numerous hospitals with hiring licensed doctors, nurses and medical technicians among other allied medical professionals.
David will synthesize the most important immigration topics you are facing as employers and HR today, including:
- how to best navigate visa/travel issues to bring in qualified workers;
- how travel restrictions apply to foreign nationals (my visa is expiring soon but I do not want to return to a travel-restricted country);
- how government office closures will impact filing options; and
- possible easing of restrictions in various categories.
This is just a sample of issues our clients are confronting, and that David will discuss. After the initial presentation David will stay for an extended Q&A period to provide as many answers as possible. If you have specific questions you would like answered, please send us your question in advance to info@brownimmigrationlaw.com.
REGISTER HERE for April 10th – Healthcare Clients
If you have contacts or colleagues who may benefit from our talks, you are welcome to invite them to join our VIP invitation list by sharing our webinar schedule where they can subscribe for further information.
Don’t miss these opportunities to increase your knowledge on important immigration issues!
Thank you and we look forward to having you at the event.
Best Regards,
The Team at Brown Immigration Law
** This newsletter/memo is provided for informational and discussion purposes only. It does not act as a substitute for direct legal contact on an individual basis **
