Articles Discussing Employment-Related Visas.

In the wake of the lowest number of H-1B visa petitions filed in five years (199,000), President Donald Trump has signed an Executive Order dubbed “Buy American, Hire American.” It is focused on reform of the H-1B non-immigration visa program, as well as the elimination of waivers and exceptions that are central to international trade deals.

On April 18, 2017, President Trump signed the “Buy American and Hire American” executive order (EO), which addresses H-IB visas. The EO calls for the application of existing U.S. laws to visa recipients and the revaluation of the H-IB program.

Reforming the H-1B program “is an issue we are closely and carefully looking at,” Donald Trump had said during the campaign. This sentiment is shared by Congress, as evidenced by the slew of legislation proposed across both sides of the aisle.

Although it is not a surprise, the USCIS announced on April 7th that it reached the H-1B cap for fiscal year 2018 – both the regular cap and “Master’s” cap. As usual, the USCIS will reject and return filing fees for all unselected cap-subject petitions – unless any of those petitions are duplicate filings.

In line with its focus on compliance and enforcement of existing laws, the Trump Administration has announced measures to “deter and detect H-1B visa fraud and abuse” and to protect American workers just as thousands of H-1B visa petitions are inundating USCIS Service Centers on April 3 (the beginning of the H-1B season for FY 2018).

On March 31, 2017, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum that provides new guidance regarding H-1B visas for computer-related positions. This document supersedes and rescinds a December 2000 memorandum that the agency has deemed “obsolete” and an inaccurate articulation of current policy on H-1B visa criteria.

This time of year, many recent college graduates who are authorized to work in the United States for a limited time as part of post-degree optional practical training are facing a deadline—and employers better take note, or they will end up with workers who have a gap in employment eligibility.

In 2015, the Obama Administration DHS issued the H-4 EAD Rule allowing certain spouses of H-1B holders to obtain EADs and work while waiting to become permanent residents. Soon thereafter, a group of high-tech workers, Save Jobs USA, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia arguing that the DHS lacked authority to issue the rule. The case was dismissed on summary judgment.

Aiming to reform and reduce fraud and abuse in the H-1B and L-1 visa programs, bipartisan bills have been introduced in both Houses of the Congress. Outsourcers are the top users of H-1B visas. These companies are known to flood the H-1B visa lottery and make it more difficult for other companies to obtain the H-1B visas they need to recruit and maintain top talent. Outsourcers have brought foreign nationals to the U.S. on these visas to be trained by the U.S. workers they are destined to replace. In light of this, other perceived abuses, and President Donald Trump’s promises to protect U.S. workers, reform bills are proliferating in Congress.

USCIS has announced that it will temporarily suspend Premium Processing for all H-1B petitions, beginning April 3, 2017. The suspension will apply to all H-1B petitions, including new H-1B cases filed under the FY18 H-1B cap, as well as extensions, amendments, and other cap-exempt petitions. According to USCIS, the temporary suspension is being implemented to help the agency reduce overall H-1B processing times, and it could last up to six months.

On Friday, March 3, 2017, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that effective April 3, 2017, it will temporarily suspend premium processing for H-1B petitions. This suspension may last for up to six months. The temporary suspension will apply to all H-1B applications filed on or after April 3, 2017. Therefore, because the current cap-subject H-1B petitions will not be filed before April 3, 2017, the suspension applies to all regular-cap and master’s-advanced-degree-cap petitions.

Petitions for new H-1B visas are eligible to be filed on April 1, 2017, for federal FY 2018 beginning October 1, 2017. There are a limited number of new H-1B visas each year (65,000 and an additional 20,000 for foreign nationals with a U.S. Master’s degree or higher), which historically is used up within days of the start of the filing period. Last year, 236,000 applications were filed for the 85,000 slots. Now is the time to review your hiring needs.

On January 27, 2017, President Trump signed an executive order (among others) titled: “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States” (the “Order”). The Order purports to “suspend entry” of both “immigrant and nonimmigrant” individuals from the seven countries currently subject to visa waiver restrictions: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.1

Executive Summary: We are releasing this Alert to remind employers of the fast-approaching April 1, 2017, opening date for filing H-1B work visa petitions on behalf of foreign employees who need sponsorship for work authorization in the U.S. Since April 1, 2017, falls on a Saturday this year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will start accepting H-1B petitions on Monday, April 3, 2017.

Employers that wish to sponsor H-1B workers for Fiscal Year 2018 can begin filing petitions on April 1, 2017, for a start date of October 1, 2017. The H-1B visa is used by businesses that wish to employ foreign nationals to work in a specialty occupation requiring theoretical or technical expertise. For FY 2018, cases will be considered accepted on the date the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) takes possession of the petition, not on the date the petition was postmarked.