Virtual Office Attorney

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for the first half of Fiscal Year 2009 (FY2009). 

Additionally, USCIS will reject petitions for new H-2B workers seeking employment start dates prior to April 1, 2009 that arrive after July 29, 2008.

USCIS announced it will deny or revoke all petitions filed by an employer for the same H-1B worker if more than one filing is discovered.  If multiple petitions are discovered, whether one or more such petitions are approved, USCIS will data enter all those duplicative petitions, retain all fees, and either deny the petitions or, if a petition was approved, revoke the petition. The petitions will not be returned to the petitioner.

As of June 6, 2008, USCIS has discovered that less than ½ of one percent of the total H-1B cap eligible petitions received involved duplicate or multiple filings for the same prospective beneficiary.

USCIS has announced Cap Count for H-1B and H-2B Workers for Fiscal Year 2009. 

Hopefully, the newly elected officials in 2009 will see immigration reform legislation as important to our nation's national security, economy and future. 

What do you predict will happen in 2009 regarding legislation?  Please comment and let me know.

USCIS has announced information regarding cap Count for H-1B and H-2B Workers for Fiscal Year 2009. 

According to Tulsa World, circus owners say restrictive U.S. immigration laws have left them without enough workers.

Congress has failed to approve a provision that allows foreign workers who were in the country on H-2B visas last year to return, and this has left some circuses short of people to sell tickets, build rides and put up tents.

Generally, H-2B visas are given to seasonal workers who must pass a series of background checks and reviews.  Then workers are allowed to stay in the country for 10 months and must pay all taxes. Congress has set a limit on the number of new visas that can be issued in a fiscal year.

Under federal law, 66,000 visas applicants are issued during the fiscal year. That number has already been met. In past years, Congress has passed legislation that allows existing workers in good standing to return on H-2B visas, but amid the debate for immigration reform, that provision has stalled.