When will I find out if my registration was selected in this year's lottery?

ANSWER: USCIS will announce on or around April 1st that it has completed the lottery of H-1B registrations and finished notifying petitioners whose registrations were selected. Your ImmiPartner legal team thoroughly reviews the selection notices for all applicants as they are received, and if your registration was among those selected, our team will notify you via email between April 1-7.

Understanding the 60-day rule and the possible interpretations of when this time period begins is critically important for laid-off workers. This calculation is very important for an H-1B worker and their new sponsoring employer, to ensure timely filing of a transfer application or change of status application, without USCIS finding a violation of authorized stay and denying such filing. The immigration regulations (8 CFR 214.1(l)(2)), dealing with the 60-day grace period, references “cessation of employment” as the start date or triggering event for counting this window. Let’s dig into this.

FAQ: COMPLIANCE GUIDE FOR H-1B DEPENDENT EMPLOYERS

When a US company’s employee population comprises a certain number of H-1B visa holders, the US Department of Labor categorizes certain H-1B employers as “H-1B dependent employers.” These FAQs are intended to clarify which entities would be considered “H-1B dependent employers” and their related compliance requirements.

When will I find out if my registration was selected in this year's lottery?

ANSWER: USCIS will announce on or around April 1st that it has completed the lottery of H-1B registrations and finished notifying petitioners whose registrations were selected. Your ImmiPartner legal team thoroughly reviews the selection notices for all applicants as they are received, and if your registration was among those selected, our team will notify you via email between April 1-7.

With priority dates from the Visa Bulletin constantly jumping ahead or retrogressing, a common question from employees and employers is about the idea of “downgrading” and the possibility of “interfiling.” In this post, we will discuss what they are and lay out some of the lesser-known considerations in considering whether to pursue them or not.

On November 10, 2021, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reached a settlement with major implications for L-2 and H-4 spouse work permits. The settlement has successfully changed longstanding immigration policy and means H-4 and L-2 spouses can now more easily obtain and renew their employment.

On October 19, 2021, a settlement was reached between Facebook and the Department of Justice regarding a lawsuit that had alleged that Facebook had engaged in discrimination against U.S. workers and potentially engaged in regulatory recruitment violations. This alleged discrimination, in part, focused on PERM Green Card recruitment. The impact of this settlement is still difficult to fully understand as this agreement avoided a court decision which would likely have provided more clarity on whether Facebook’s PERM recruitment practices were in fact discriminatory or whether they followed the rather clear letter of the law.

As COVID-19 vaccination efforts continue to progress rapidly in the United States, a common question that arises for international employees is whether it is feasible to travel internationally at this time. Unfortunately, the answer remains complicated.

Biden’s Immigration Bill introduced in the Congress: On February 18, 2021, the Biden administration formally introduced the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 in Congress. We will have more analysis in the coming days but some of the key takeaways of the current bill include: (1) creating a path to citizenship for undocumented individuals who were physically present in the United States on or before January 1, 2021, provided that they pass criminal and security background checks and pay their taxes; (2) reforming employment-based immigration by clearing visa backlogs, recapturing unused visas, reducing lengthy wait times, and eliminating per-country visa caps. The bill also will introduce measures to make it easier for graduates of U.S. universities with advanced STEM degrees to stay in the United States.