Immigration Updates

Despite the numerous immigration policy shifts introduced by the new administration, one key process remains unchanged: the H-1B lottery. On Wednesday, USCIS announced the submission and processing dates for Fiscal Year 2026 H-1B lottery entries. Employers use H-1B visas to hire foreign nationals in “specialty occupations” that typically require at least a bachelor’s degree. While […]

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a final rule to adjust certain immigration and naturalization benefit request fees for the first time since 2016. The final rule will allow USCIS to recover a greater share of its operating costs and support more timely processing of new applications. The final rule is the result of […]

USCIS seeks to update regulations with proposed rulemaking to improve program efficiency and integrity WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would modernize the H-1B specialty occupation worker program by streamlining eligibility requirements, improving program efficiency, providing greater benefits […]

In March 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) conducted an initial random selection on properly submitted electronic registrations for the fiscal year (FY) 2024 H-1B cap, including for beneficiaries eligible for the advanced degree exemption. The initial filing period for those with selected registrations for FY 2024 was from April 1, 2023, through June 30, 2023. […]

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) stated on January 28, 2022, that the registration period for Fiscal Year 2023 will begin on March 1, 2022, 12nn EST and end on March 18, 2022, 12nn EST. Employers can register prospective employees via the USCIS online H-1B registration system during this 18-day period, either directly or through […]

USCIS Will Accept H-1B Petitions for Fiscal Year 2018 Beginning April 3 Release Date: March 15, 2017 WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year 2018 cap on April 3, 2017. All cap-subject H-1B petitions filed before April 3, 2017, for the FY 2018 cap will […]

Investor’s Visa Through Franchise Ownership Foreign citizens that are entrepreneurs or future business owners who wish to live and own a franchise business here in the U.S. have an opportunity to do so through an E2 Visa. This program allows individuals from treaty countries to enter the USA through business ownership. Benefits of the E-2 […]

USCIS Completes Data Entry of Fiscal Year 2017 H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions USCIS announced on May 2, 2016, that it has completed data entry of all fiscal year 2017 H-1B cap-subject petitions selected in our computer-generated random process. USCIS will now begin returning all H-1B cap-subject petitions that were not selected. Due to the high volume […]

Fiscal Year 2017 H-1B Cap Premium Processing to Begin May 12 On May 12, 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions requesting premium processing, including petitions seeking an exemption for individuals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher. USCIS first announced in a news releasethat it would temporarily […]