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USCIS Announces Use of Fiscal Year 2011 Employment Based Visa Allocations

Myrtle Robinson — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:29:57 +0000

The Department of State has informed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that all employment-based immigrant visas have been distributed for fiscal year 2011. Every fiscal year (October 1st – September 30th), at least 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas are made available to qualified applicants who seek to immigrate based on an offer of employment to the principal applicant. Applicants should note that USCIS will continue accepting adjustment of status applications based on the September visa bulletin through the entire month of September. However, there will be no Employment Based visas issued until the new fiscal year which begins on October 1, 2011.

Diversity Lottery 2013

Myrtle Robinson — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 16:08:25 +0000

The Department of State has announced that the online registration period for the 2013 Diversity Visa Program (DV-2013) will begin on Tuesday, October 4, 2011, at noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), and conclude on Saturday, November 5, 2011, at noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4).

The DV-2013 Lottery Instructions is available in English in PDF format for your convenience and required use. The English language version of the DV-2013 Lottery Instructions is the only official version. Unofficial translations in additional languages are also available.

Natives of the following countries are ineligible as they have sent over 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the past 5 years.

Ineligible Countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, India, Pakistan, Peru,, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam. Individuals born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR and Taiwan are eligible

The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program makes available up to 55,000 diversity visas (DVs) annually. The winners are randomly selected from all entrants who meet strict eligibility requirements including 1) a high school education or its equivalent; or 2) two years of experience in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience. Winners are selected from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Additional information is available by visiting Diversity Visa Lottery Instructions webpage.

To learn more about qualifying occupations, see the Diversity Visa Instructions Frequently Asked Questions and the List of Occupations webpage.

October 2011 Visa Bulletin

Myrtle Robinson — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:42:55 +0000

The October 2011 Visa bulletin, the first for the fiscal year 2012 has been issued by the Department of State. In the employment sponsored categories, movement continues to be slow and steady. For family based petitions, the F2A category (spouse and minor children) of Lawful Permanent Residents has jumped 6 months with Visas now available for petitions filed January 2009 or earlier. In all other categories, movement continues to be slowly forward with slight retrogression for married children of US Citizens.

Family- Sponsored	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	15JUN04	15JUN04	15JUN04	22MAR93	08JAN97
F2A *	08JAN09	08JAN09	08JAN09	15OCT08	08JAN09
F2B	15JUL03	15JUL03	15JUL03	22NOV92	01MAY01
F3	08SEP01	08SEP01	08SEP01	01DEC92	08JUN92
F4	15MAY00	15MAY00	15MAY00	08APR96	01AUG88

Employment- Based	All Charge-ability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	15JUL07	15JUL07	C	C
3rd	08DEC05	08AUG04	15JUL02	08DEC05	08DEC05
Other Workers*	15SEP05	22APR03	08JUN02	15SEP05	15SEP05
4th	C	C	C	C	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	C	C	C
5th Targeted Employment Areas/Regional Centers and Pilot Programs	C	C	C	C	C

FY 2012 H-1B Cap Count

Myrtle Robinson — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:17:01 +0000

As of August 26, 2011, the USCIS has received 29,000 petitions towards the H-1B regular cap of 65,000. They have received 15,800 petitions towards the Masters cap of 20,000. There are just over 40,000 visas still available for the fiscal year which begins October 1, 2011. At the current rate, Visas should continue to be available to November 2011.

FY 2012 H-1B Cap Count

Cap Type	Cap Amount	Cap Eligible Petitions	Date of Last Count
H-1B Regular Cap	65,000	29,000	8/26/2011
H-1B Master’s Exemption	20,000	15,800	8/26/2011

H-1B Cap Exemption Based on Relation or Affiliation

admin — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:25:08 +0000

H-1B Cap Exemption Based on Relation or Affiliation

On March 16, 2011, the USCIS announced interim procedures that apply to non profit entities who have filed for H-1B exemption as related to or affiliated to an institution of higher education. The USCIS will “give deference to prior determinations made since June 6, 2006, that a non-profit entity is related to or affiliated with an institution of higher education – absent any significant change in circumstances or clear error in prior adjudication.” When filing a new petition requesting cap exemption, petitioners must include a copy of a previously approved cap exempt petition including the attachments along with a copy of the approval notice.

The USCIS emphasized that this procedure is only in place for an interim period as they work on providing concrete and permanent guidance in connection with these petitions. A copy of the release is available at this link.

admin — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 10:28:32 +0000

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