Month: February 2023

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Updates

FY2023 H-1B Registration Fact Sheet for Employers

FY2023 H-1B Registration Fact Sheet for Employers
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Registration Process

To file H-1B petitions subject to the FY2024 cap for an employee, you must first electronically register and pay a $10 fee for each electronic registration. The electronic registration includes basic information about the employer and employee. If prepared by an attorney, the process requires an electronic handshake between the employer and attorney. Registrations must be submitted between March 1 and March 17, 2023.

When you register, you must pay a non-refundable $10 fee online for each registration using the pay.gov portal. Payment can be made via ACH transfer from a bank account, a credit card, or a debit card. This fee is in addition to the filing fees you will have to pay later with the petition if the employee is selected in the cap lottery. If an attorney is filing on your behalf, please consult with the attorney about how this payment will be made.

Please note: Employers are prohibited from submitting more than one registration for the same prospective H-1B employee. If an employer or its attorney submits more than one registration for the same H-1B candidate in a fiscal year, all registrations for that candidate will be invalid. USCIS has created a tool to allow employers and their attorneys to check for duplicate registrations.

The Lottery and Filing Petitions

After the registration period, USCIS will randomly select registrations from the ones it has received and will electronically notify you or your attorney if your employee has been selected. This will happen no later than March 31, 2023. If your employee’s registration is selected, then you will have at least 90 days to file a fully prepared H-1B cap-subject petition for the employee starting April 1. If your employee’s registration is not selected, the registration will be maintained until USCIS determines that it has received enough petitions to meet the cap. Once the cap has been reached, registrations that were not selected will be updated online as “not selected.”

What Should I Do Now?

Schedule a meeting with your attorney’s office before the registration period to discuss prospective H-1B petitions and whether the job and the individual would qualify for an H-1B. You should also discuss the timing of filing your H-1B petition with your attorney. To do this, you should:

  • Gather all relevant information about the job and the prospective employee’s qualifications
  • Starting at 12:00 noon (ET) on February 21, set up an employer account on myUSCIS as an “H-1B registrant.”
  • Call your attorney’s office with any questions.

Be prepared to discuss your expectations for processing your registration and how quickly a petition needs to be filed if selected. Your attorney can also discuss options if your registration is not selected.

 IMPORTANT DATES:

  • February 21: Employers may begin creating myUSCIS H1B registration accounts
  • March 1: Registration Period Opens at 12noon (ET)
  • March 17: Registration period closes at 12:00 noon (ET)
  • March 31: USCIS conducts the lottery and electronically notifies selected registrants
  • April 1: Filing period begins for selected cases ONLY

If you have questions about the H-1B visa process, we encourage you to reach out to Tancinco Law, P.C. at 1 888 930 0808, email law@tancinco.com or schedule a consultation through our website at www.tancinco.com.

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Updates

It’s Layoff Season for Tech Industry Workers

Its Layoff Season for Tech Industry Workers
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What options do terminated H1B employees have?

In prior years, there was usually a lot of excitement building up towards the period when the US Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS) opens the period for accepting H1B petitions. But this year is different. 

Beginning last quarter of 2022 up to the present, giant tech employers have been announcing mass layoffs of thousands of their employees citing economic uncertainty and fear of a coming recession. While there are no exact figures of how many are holders of H1B visas among those who were terminated, we are receiving a lot of inquiries by terminated H1B holders on what options they have to continue staying in the United States.

Generally, an H1B visa holder must leave the U.S. before the end of 60 days from date of termination. But if the worker is not ready to depart,  what are the available options to allow them to continue to stay in the United States?

  1. Find a new U.S. employer. A terminated H1B visa holder may apply for a new job with a different employer.  This new employer must be filed before the 60 days expire. 
  1. Negotiate with the Current Employer. Being laid off comes as a surprise to many and usually it is a sudden news that is received by a terminated employee, i.e. no advance notice. But if a Notice of Termination is already received, depending on the company policy, one may negotiate for an extended termination date until the H1B employee finds a new employer in exchange for a lower severance pay. This is just an option as many H1B visa holders find that maintaining status is more a priority than the amount of severance pay.
  1. Change Status. If the deadline to leave the country is fast approaching and  the negotiation for extended termination date is not granted, consider filing for a change of status for either a visitor visa (B2) or a student visa (F1). Or, the H1B visa may also be changed to an O1 visa which will also permit the individual to work. The standards for O1 are different from an H1B, thus requiring an advice/analysis from a legal counsel. This application for change of status must be filed within the 60 day grace period.
  1. Adjust Status. This situation is specific to those who have a U.S. citizen fiancé or are already in a relationship. They may want to consider marriage and have their spouses petition them. A simultaneous petition and adjustment of status may be filed.
  1. Consider forming a Start Up Entity. An investor visa (temporary or permanent) may be an option for a terminated H1B visa holder who has the capacity to invest in a new U.S. entity and meets the eligibility requirements set by pertinent regulations.

Realizing that thousands of talented foreign nationals are affected by these mass layoffs, there are venture capitalists and or other smaller firms, who may be sympathetic and willing to hire these H1B employees.

When all options have been exhausted and there is no such luck, or perhaps, there is not enough time to change status or find a new employer within the 60 days period, it may be best to consider leaving the United States in order to preserve one’s option of returning in the future without any negative consequence. 

(Atty. Lourdes S. Tancinco is an immigration attorney and immigrant rights advocate based in the San Francisco Bay area and a partner at the Tancinco Law P.C.. She may be reached at law@tancinco.com, www.tancinco.com, facebook/tancincolaw, or at 1-888-930-0808)

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Updates

A Senate bill for Dreamers. Promising or not?

A Senate bill for Dreamers. Promising or not?
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Senators from both sides of the aisle have come together to back a Senate bill that would provide a path to citizenship for Dreamers.

The Senate bill promises a pathway to citizenship for 2 million Dreamers. At the same time the bill sets aside $25 billion to $40 billion for border security.

Wait, a bill that both helps Dreamers but pushes restrictions at the border? How did this happen?

This is primarily because of the primary proponent of the bill, Arizona’s Senator Kyrsten Sinema.

She said they needed legislation to further restrict illegal border crossings as her state suffered the most with lax regulations.

Will this pass? Sinema is optimistic in the Senate, despite the control of Democrats. The House is in a trickier situation, with more further right-wing legislators asserting control on the House floor.

As for the White House, President Joe Biden said Congress needs to pass a “comprehensive” immigration plan.

So far, President Biden has leaned into using Trump-era policies to limit illegal immigration.

Until this so-called comprehensive law is passed, Dreamers will continue to be in wait for their future.

To seek advice for Dreamers, consult a trusted immigration lawyer.

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Updates

Latest: On Green Cards and being a “Public Charge”

Latest On Green Cards and being a Public Charge
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The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced changes to Form I-485 or the Form for Adjustment of Status.

The change includes a new “public charge” portion, and some new questions for green card applicants.

The changes have been applied since December 23, 2022, according to the USCIS.

First, let’s review what a public charge is. Being a public charge means that a person is “primarily dependent” on the government, making them a “charge” to the public rather than a contributor. 

Green card applicants are not admissible to the US if they are likely to be a public charge. 

The keyword is self sufficiency.

The change is with proving one’s self sufficiency. Under the Trump administration, there was a whole separate form, the Declaration of Self Sufficiency, to prove that one was not likely to become a public charge. 

Under the Biden administration, some of the information asked by the discarded form will be included in the Form I-485.

Here’s what Boundless found: In the preview of Form I-485, if an applicant answers “yes” to being subject to public charge ground of inadmissibility on their form, they must provide the following information:

  • Household size
  • Annual household income
  • Total value of household assets
  • Total value of household liabilities
  • Highest degree or level of school completed
  • List of work-related skills, certifications, licenses, educational certificates
  • If an applicant has ever received cash benefit programs for income maintenance
  • If an applicant has ever received long-term institutionalization at the government’s expense

For guidance on getting a green card and navigating these new rules, reach out to a trusted immigration lawyer.

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Updates

Is 2023 the worst year to get an H-1B visa?

Is 2023 the worst year to get an H-1B visa?
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With applications skyrocketing year after year, experts are speculating that 2023 may be a bad year to apply for an H-1B visa.

For those who forgot, the H-1B is a visa in the US that allows US employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty occupations.  

Granting the H-1B is based on a lottery basis, with applications that will be processed being selected at random.

According a recent Mint article, this is because of the newly launched electronic registration. It started in 2020, and since then has increased the number of applicants for H-1B visas to almost 500,000 in a year.

2023 is projected to be the biggest year yet, and yet there are only around 85,000 H-1B petition approvals.

Aside from the US economy doing well overall, enticing more applicants into the country, there have been large-scale layoffs in the tech industry, with many of those let go needing to reapply for an H-1B.  

There are also H-1B applicants who lost the lottery the previous year who are applying again.

With such tight competition for processing, the chances are bleaker than ever to get picked in the H-1B lottery.

This doesn’t mean you should give up though. There may be other ways to work legally in the United States.

For help on getting an H-1B and tips on other ways to get work authorization, reach out to a trusted immigration lawyer.

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Updates

Upcoming Changes to “U.S. Citizenship Test”

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The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is set to change the naturalization test, which is more known as the “U.S. Citizenship Test.”

In a recent statement, the USCIS says it is about to conduct a trial for the new naturalization/citizenship test. The changes concern the speaking and civics portions of the exam. 

The reading and writing parts, which are the other two portions, will stay the same.

The edits under trial come after the USCIS received calls to standardize the test as judging applicants has been subjective when it comes to the speaking and civics test.

The speaking test will be “standardized” to reflect a “typical conversation.” 

Meanwhile, the civics test will no longer be in a fill-in-the-blank format. Instead, it will be a multiple-choice exam.

These edits will make it easier to pass the exam. 

This comes after the test was criticized for being too difficult. A survey found that 2 of 3 American citizens would flunk the exam. 

From these trials, the naturalization test will further be assessed and edited.

Until then, the USCIS welcomes comments from the public about the test. Just shoot an email to natzredesign22@uscis.dhs.gov.

For tips on naturalization and how to ace your citizenship test, reach out to a trusted immigration lawyer.

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Featured

Heads up! USCIS eyes hiking fees

Heads up! USCIS eyes hiking fees
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The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is planning on hiking its fees because of budget cuts.

These are huge hike increases. If approved, some of the fees will be more than doubled, while most will rise by hundreds of dollars.

The rate hike, if passed, will discourage employers from sponsoring foreigners into their organizations. It may also be a big financial burden to American citizens who seek to sponsor relatives into the country.

The USCIS has published an extensive document about the proposal, but here are the important proposed fee hikes you need to know about, as compiled by WolfsDorf:

  • Application for Employment Authorization – Online, from current $410 to new $555
  • Application for Employment Authorization – Paper, from current $410 to new $650
  • Application for Employment Authorization – Online and Paper (with biometric services), from current $495 to new $650
  • H-1B Pre-Registration Fee, from current $10 to proposed $215
  • I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker: H-1 Classifications, from current $460 to proposed $780
  • I-129 Petition for L Nonimmigrant Worker, from current $460 to proposed $1,385
  • I-129 Petition for O Nonimmigrant Worker, from current $460 to proposed $1,055
  • I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, from current $700 to proposed $715
  • H-2A Petition – Named Beneficiaries, from current $460 to proposed $1,090
  • H-2A Petition – Unnamed Beneficiaries, from current $460 to proposed $530
  • H-2B Petition – Named Beneficiaries, from current $460 to proposed $1,080
  • H-2B Petition – Unnamed Beneficiaries, from current $460 to proposed $580
  • I-526 Immigrant Petition by Standalone Investor, from current $3,675 to proposed $11,160
  • Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor, from current $3,675 to proposed $11,160
  • Application for Regional Center Designation, from current $17,795 to proposed $47,695
  • I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (with biometric services), from current $1,225 to proposed $1,540

As seen above, these proposed rate hikes cannot be taken lightly.

But the good news is it’s not final yet. The USCIS wants to hear your input on the proposals. Its 60-day public comment period will end on March 6.

To submit your comment, you can go to https://www.regulations.gov, and type “Docket No. USCIS-2021-0010” in the search bar.  From there, follow the prompts to submit comments. 

For more information on the rate hikes and how to beat them, consult a trusted immigration lawyer.