Employment Based Visa Bulletin

Categories	Worldwide	China (mainland)	India	Mexico	Philippines
EB-1: Priority Workers	Current	Current	Current	Current	Current
EB-2: Advanced Degree or Exceptional Ability	Current	15FEB05	15FEB04	Current	Current
EB-3: Skilled Workers	U	U	U	U	U
Unskilled	U	U	U	U	U
EB-4: Special Immigrants	Current	Current	Current	Current	Current
Religious Workers	Current	Current	Current	Current	Current
EB-5: Target Area Investment	Current	Current	Current	Current	Current

 Family Based Visa Bulletin

Categories	Worldwide	China (mainland)	India	Mexico	Philippines
1st: Unmarried sons and daughters of US Citizens	22SEP02	22SEP02	22SEP02	08OCT92	01AUG93
2A: Spouses and Unmarried Children (under 21) of Permanent Resident	08OCT04	08OCT04	08OCT04	01APR02	08OCT04
2B: Unmarried Children (over 21) of Permanent Resident	15NOV00	15NOV00	15NOV00	01MAY92	01FEB98
3rd: Married Children of US Citizen	08SEP00	08SEP00	08SEP00	22OCT92	22JUN91
4th: Brothers and Sisters of US Citizen	08JUN98	22MAR98	08JUN98	01MAY95	08JUL86

 

 

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.

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2009 — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a reminder that the revised Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification (Rev. 02/02/09), goes into effect today for all U.S. employers. The revision date is printed on the lower right-hand corner of the form.  USCIS Press Release (04/03/2009)

These Questions & Answers address the automatic extension of F-1 student status in the United States for certain students with pending or approved H-1B petitions (indicating a request for change of status from F-1 to H-1B) for an employment start date of October 1, 2009 under the FY 2010 H-1B cap. USCIS Press Release (04/01/09)

USCIS Update

April 8, 2009

USCIS Continues to Accept FY 2010 H-1B Petitions

WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced it continues to accept H-1B nonimmigrant visa petitions subject to the fiscal year 2010 (FY 2010) cap. USCIS will continue to monitor the number of H-1B petitions received for both the 65,000 regular cap and the 20,000 U.S. master’s degree or higher educational exemption cap.

Should USCIS receive the necessary number of petitions to meet the respective caps, it will issue an update to advise the public that, as of a certain date (the "final receipt date"), the respective FY 2010 H-1B caps have been met. The final receipt date will be based on the date USCIS physically receives the petition, not the date that the petition is postmarked. The date or dates USCIS informs the public that the respective caps have been reached may differ from the actual final receipt date.

To ensure a fair system, USCIS may randomly select the number of petitions required to reach the numerical limit from the petitions received as of the final receipt date. USCIS will reject cap subject petitions that are not selected, as well as those received after the final receipt date.

Petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers, who have been counted previously against the cap, will not count toward the congressionally mandated FY 2010 H-1B cap. Therefore, USCIS will continue to process petitions filed to:

• Extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the United States.

• Change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers.

• Allow current H-1B workers to change employers.

• Allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.

H-1B in General U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in fields, such as scientists, engineers, or computer programmers.

– USCIS –