Posts Tagged ‘Citizenship And Immigration Services’

USCIS reports increase in H-1B visa applications compared to last year

April 26th, 2012 Tushar Mathur

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reported a large increase in skilled foreign worker H-1B visa applications during the first week of this year’s application season. USCIS has received 25,600 petitions for H-1B visas since 2 April 2012, nearly twice as many as it received for the entire first month of last year’s application period.
USCIS officially began accepting H-1B applications last week for positions with a start date of 1 October 2012 or later. The visas are popular for those in IT occupations and engineering.

“Given the improved economy…it would not be surprising to see the quota filled very early this year,” said Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, a group that studies the H-1B program.

There are a total of 85,000 new H-1B visas made available each government fiscal year.

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Grant opportunity announced by US Citizenship and Integration Grant Program

April 2nd, 2012 Tushar Mathur

On 20 March 2012, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that $5 million in competitive grant funding would be available to promote immigrant civic integration and prepare permanent residents for citizenship. The grant will go towards funding various citizenship preparation programs in communities across the country.

Since its establishment in 2009, the US Citizenship and Integration Grant Program has issued a total of $18.3 million in grants to immigrant-serving organizations that have provided citizenship preparation services to more than 29,000 US permanent residents.

Eligible organisations have until 7 May 2012 to apply for grant funding.

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US immigration to begin accepting H-1B applications starting 2 April 2012

March 14th, 2012 Tushar Mathur

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting fiscal year 2013 H-1B visa applications on Monday 2 April 2012 for employment with a start date of 1 October 2012 or later.

Current immigration law allows for a total of 85,000 new H-1B visas to be made available each government fiscal year. This number includes 65,000 new H-1B visas issued for overseas workers in professional or specialty occupation positions, and an additional 20,000 visas available for those with an advanced degree from a US academic institution.

Employers should begin identifying current and future employees who will need H-1B visas to be legally employed in the US.

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US immigration program allows immigrants to check their employment eligibility status

February 22nd, 2012 Tushar Mathur

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced this week that Self Check, a free online service which is part of the E-Verify system and allows workers to check their own employment eligibility status, is now available in all 50 states. Along with all 50 states, it is also available in Washington, D.C., and the US territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.

The Self Check program was initially launched in March 2011 by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas.

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US immigration adds more countries to list of eligible applicants for H-2A and H-2B visas

February 3rd, 2012 Tushar Mathur

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced last week that there have been five more countries added to the list of eligible nationals who can participate in the H-2A and H-2B programs in 2012. This brings the lists total to 58 countries. The list of Countries will be reviewed again one year from the date of publication.

The H-2A and H-2B programs allow US employers to bring foreign workers to the US in order to fill temporary agricultural jobs and temporary non-agricultural jobs.

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Form I-130 Filing Location Changes

December 26th, 2011 Tushar Mathur

“WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will change the filing locations for Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. Effective Jan. 1, 2012, domestic petitioners will mail their stand-alone I-130 applications to either the Chicago Lockbox or the Phoenix Lockbox, depending on where they reside in the United States. The new filing locations will be updated with the corresponding addresses on Jan. 1 on the Form I-130 Direct Filing Locations page. This effort will balance workloads between the two locations and provide more efficient and effective processing of Form I-130.

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Filing of I-130 petitions in foreign countries centralized in Chicago

August 29th, 2011 Tushar Mathur

Starting Aug. 15, 2011, petitioners who live in foreign countries without USCIS offices must file their Form I-130, Petition for an Alien Relative, with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) lockbox facility in Chicago. The addresses are listed below.  However, Petitioners living in a country with a USCIS office may choose to send their I-130 petition to the USCIS Chicago addresses, OR file  at the USCIS office in that country. The current processing time is approximately five months, as reported by the USCIS.

Please note: Filing addresses and procedures change constantly.  You should always check the current instructions in the form or USCIS.gov website.

For U.S.

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United States encourages entrepreneur immigration

August 11th, 2011 Tushar Mathur

The US government has outlined a series of “policy, operational, and outreach efforts” which it hopes will drive economic growth and stimulate investment by encouraging foreign entrepreneurs to immigrate to the United States.

The new initiatives were announced by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) director Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.

“The United States has a long, rich history of welcoming innovative entrepreneurs and skilled workers into our country,” Mayorkas said on his blog.

“These men and women fuel our nation’s economy by creating jobs, and promoting new technologies and ideas,” he added.

“Today, I joined Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and outlined a series of new policy, operational, and outreach efforts that will help fuel the nation’s economy and stimulate investment by making it easier for high-skill immigrants to start and grow companies and create jobs here in the United States.”

USCIS announced that it will:

  • Clarify that immigrant entrepreneurs may obtain an employment-based EB-2 immigrant visa if they satisfy existing requirements, and that they may also qualify for a National Interested Waiver (no job offer required) under the EB-2 immigrant visa category if they can demonstrate that their business will be of interest to the United States.
  • Expand the Premium Processing Service to immigrant petitions for multinational executives and managers
  • Clarify that a sole owner of a business who wishes to employ himself/herself in some circumstances can establish a valid employer-employee relationship to qualify for an H-1B non-immigrant visa
  • Implement enhancements to streamline the EB-5 immigrant investor process
  • Launch new “engagement opportunities” to seek input and feedback from entrepreneurs and companies.

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