Blog — Nadia Yakoob & Associates

USCIS Reaches H-1B Cap for Fiscal Year 2019

On April 6, 2018, USCIS announced it had reached the 65,000 H-1B visa cap and the 20,000 visa U.S. advanced degree exemption cap (the “Master’s cap”) for fiscal year 2019.

USCIS has not specified yet how many H-1B cap-subject petitions it received this year.

H-1B, USCISNadia YakoobApril 9, 2018immigration, H-1B, USCIS, H-1B CAP, legal, visa, immigrant, status

Paying USCIS Filing Fees with Credit Cards: Agency Provides More Guidance

Earlier this week, USCIS provided guidance on how to pay for government filing fees with credit cards. Last month (February 2017), USCIS began accepting credit card payments for 41 fee-based forms processed at USCIS Lockbox facilities. Applicants must use Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transaction and may pay with Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover.

USCISNadia YakoobMarch 30, 2018immigrant, USCIS, visa, credit card, G-1450, law firm

USCIS Suspends Premium Processing for H-1B Cap Cases

USCIS will temporarily suspend premium processing for all FY 2019 cap-subject petitions effective April 2, 2018. This suspension is expected to last until Sept. 10, 2018. USCIS will continue to accept premium processing requests for H-1B petitions that are not subject to the FY 2019 cap, such as extensions and change of employer petitions.

USCIS, H-1BNadia YakoobMarch 21, 2018USCIS, immigration, immigrant, premium processing, H-1B CAP, H-1B, law firm, visa, green card, nonimmigrant, petition

April 2018 Visa Bulletin Released

The Department of State (DOS) has released the April 2018 Visa Bulletin. Most notably, the Employment-Based (“EB”)-1 category for Indian and Chinese nationals retrogresses dramatically from current to January 1, 2012. EB-2 and EB-3 for Chinese nationals, and EB-3 for Indian and Filipino nationals make significant advances while EB-2 for Indians holds steady.