News

USCIS announced this past week that they have not only received more petitions than there are available H-1B visa numbers (85,000) but they have also completed their lottery selection process. For those petitioners who have selected to use the Premium Processing option, which is an additional $1410 in government filing fees, they are already receiving notification as to whether their petitions have been selected in the lottery for substantive processing. For those who have not selected Premium Processing, or for those petitions not available for Premium Processing, it is still a waiting game. (Premium Processing is an option for employers...

USCIS just announced that they received 201,000 H-1B petitions at the beginning of this month which exceeds the number of H-1B visa numbers available for Fiscal Year 2020. This is no surprise given that employers have been filing H-1B petitions that have exceeded the number available each year for many years now. What is interesting is that the actual number of H-1B petitions that have been filed with USCIS continues to decrease. There were 233,000 last year and 236,000 the year before. Despite the decrease in petition numbers, there still is not enough H-1B visa numbers to meet the demand...

Employers filing H-1B petitions for individuals who have never had H-1B status have had to wait for the availability of a visa number, unless the employer is exempt. (Exempt employers include institutions of higher education, non-profit research organizations, and government research organizations.) Over the last few years, there has been a shortage of H-1B visa numbers to meet the demands. As a result, employers have had to participate in a lottery process that started April 1 each year (six months before the first day of each fiscal year October 1) to attempt to secure a number. Earlier this month, USCIS...

Teaders of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico have just signed off on the renegotiated version of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), now named the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), while attending the G20 Summit today. While the respective governments will have to ratify the agreement, the burning question from the immigration standpoint is how will this impact the nonimmigrant TN visa classification which allows citizens of Canada and Mexico to enter the US to work for US employers under a prescribed list of occupations. Based on what we see, other than updating some headings and terms, the answer is...

The H-1B visa classification is one of the most popular work-authorized temporary work visas available. H-1Bs are available where there is a U.S. employer; where the position offered is a "specialty occupation," that is, one cannot perform the duties without having a degree in a specific field of study; where the individual has the degree (or equivalent work experience) in that specific field; and where the employer is willing to pay a required wage. For now, there is generally no labor market test. The H-1B is so popular that individuals not already in H-1B status must have their employers file...

Clark Lau LLC is pleased to announce that Managing Partner Vince Lau has been named by Marquis' Who's Who as a Top Lawyer. According to Vince, "What makes one a 'Top Lawyer' is the strong support and backing he receives from the team at work."http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release-service/457729