The U.S. Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin for August 2013 contains considerable improvement in the cutoff date in the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for India. The EB-2 India cutoff date, effective during August 2013, advances to January 1, 2008. As of the July 2013 Visa Bulletin, the EB-2 India cutoff date was fixed at September 1, 2004.
Immigration Modernization Act (S.744) Pros and Cons
The “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” or Senate Immigration bill 7.44 would provide for the best and most positive effects for businesses in particular and would facilitate substantial positive reform in the permanent resident (green card) category. On the other hand, S.744 would complicate the process of acquiring temporary workers such as H1-Bs and L-1s.
The 'JOLT' Act
First introduced in the 112th Congress, the JOLT act is a combination of several proposed policies and programs which hope to tackle the visa problems related to foreign travelers and tourists visiting America. The latest version of the JOLT act included some new reforms and an updated version of previous policies.
2014 H-1B Lottery Rejections
USCIS reached the statutory H-1B cap of 65,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2014 within the first week of the filing period, which ended on April 5, 2013. Currently, it begun returning H-1B petitions that were not selected in the FY14 lottery..
2014 H-1B Cap Case Processing Time
The data entry process for 2014 H-1B cases selected in the lottery is now underway. As stated by USCIS, all premium processing cases are being managed first and their processing is not expected be completed until April 15.
2013 Immigration Reform Postponed
Senate postpones release of the 2013 immigration reform due to the tragic bombings in Boston
H1B 2014 Cap – Potentially Most Competitive Year for Workers
H1B applicants should be aware of the competition as the April 1st deadline for the 2014 H1B Cap season approaches