Tag Archives: USCIS

FAQ, H1B

USCIS Updates Count of FY2010 H-1B Petition Filings

April 22, 2009 GCforPhD Leave a comment

Source: USCIS

Applicable to: H1B applicants

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced an updated number of filings for H-1B petitions for the fiscal year 2010 program.

USCIS has received approximately 44,000 H-1B petitions counting toward the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap. The agency continues to accept petitions subject to the general cap.

Additionally, the agency has received approximately 20,000 petitions for aliens with advanced degrees; however, we continue to accept advanced degree petitions since experience has shown that not all petitions received are approvable. Congress mandated that the first 20,000 of these types of petitions are exempt from any fiscal year cap on available H-1B visas.

For cases filed for premium processing during the initial five-day filing window, the 15-day premium processing period began April 7. For cases filed for premium processing after the filing window, the premium processing period begins on the date USCIS takes physical possession of the petition.

USCIS will provide regular updates on the processing of FY2010 H-1B petitions. The updates can be found on the USCIS’ Web site at www.uscis.gov/h-1b_count.

H1B

USCIS Updates Count of FY2010 H-1B Petition Filings

April 10, 2009 GCforPhD Leave a comment

Source: USCIS

Applicability: H1B applicants

WASHINGTON April 9, 2009 — USCIS announced an updated number of filings for H-1B petitions for the fiscal year 2010 program.

USCIS has received approximately 42,000 H-1B petitions counting toward the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap. The agency continues to accept petitions subject to the general cap.

USCIS will provide regular updates as the processing of FY2010 H-1B petitions continue.

News

USCIS Meets Another Milestone in Eliminating FBI Name Check Backlogs

March 14, 2009 GCforPhD Leave a comment

Source: USCIS

Applies to: I-485 applicants

Name Checks Pending More Than Six Months Now Completed

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that, working in close partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the backlog for FBI name checks pending more than six months has been eliminated. This is the fourth milestone met by the agency as part of its joint plan with the FBI to completely eliminate the backlog of pending name checks.

Just 16 months ago, more than 349,000 name checks were pending; of that, nearly 150,000 had been pending for more than six months. All USCIS requests pending for six months or more as of February 28, 2009, have now been responded to by the FBI’s National Name Check Program (NNCP).

In April 2008, USCIS and the FBI established milestones prioritizing work based on the age of the pending name check. Priorities included processing all name checks pending more than three years by May 2008 (the FBI had already eliminated all cases pending more than four years); those pending more than two years by July 2008; and those pending more than one year by November 2008.

E-verify: fact sheet

February 8, 2009 GCforPhD Leave a comment

News Post: USCIS

For whom: Employers hiring new employees (phd’s and postdocs included)

Fact Sheet: E-Verify Strengthening the Employment Eligibility Document Review Process for the Nation’s Employers

E-Verify is an Internet-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA) that allows participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) administers the program.

Name Checks Pending More Than Six Months Now Completed

Self petition for a green card in EB1A or NIW