Alan Lee, Attorney at Law - H-1B Tips Before April 1st Filings

News Update - March 27, 2010

By Alan Lee, Esq.^†^‡

H-1B Tips Before April 1st Filings

As everyone knows by now, the first day for the acceptance of new cap-subject H-1B petitions is April 1st. Readers should keep a few things in mind:

Do not go crazy if your petition will not be ready for filing or is not accepted for filing on April 1st. Although U.S.C.I.S. says that it is ready for anything, no one is projecting huge numbers of filings for April 1st. Most expect that the H-1B cap will last for some time.

Do not file without a certified labor condition application (LCA). U.S.C.I.S. previously had a temporary rule that it would accept H-1B filings without certified LCA's as long as the LCA applications had been pending seven days with the Department of Labor, but that rule has expired.

If you are within the jurisdiction of the Vermont Service Center, send your petition to the new addresses at:

H-1B Cap Cases
USCIS
VSC
Attn: H-1B Cap
4 Lemnah Drive
St. Albans, VT
05479-0001

H-1B U.S. Master’s Cap Cases
USCIS
VSC
Attn: H-1B U.S. Master’s Cap
4 Lemnah Dive
St. Albans, VT
05479-0001

Good luck on your petition.

† The author is a 30+ year practitioner of immigration law based in New York City. He was awarded the Sidney A. Levine prize for best legal writing at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1977 and has written extensively on immigration over the past years for the ethnic newspapers, World Journal, Sing Tao, Pakistan Calling, Muhasha and OCS. He has testified as an expert on immigration in civil court proceedings and was recognized by the Taiwan government in 1985 for his work protecting human rights. His article, "The Bush Temporary Worker Proposal and Comparative Pending Legislation: an Analysis" was Interpreter Releases' cover display article at the American Immigration Lawyers Association annual conference in 2004, and his victory in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in a case of first impression nationwide, Firstland International v. INS, successfully challenged INS' policy of over 40 years of revoking approved immigrant visa petitions under a nebulous standard of proof. Its value as precedent, however, was short-lived as it was specifically targeted by the Administration in the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004.

Copyright © 2003-2012 Alan Lee, Esq.
The information provided here is of a general nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts or circumstances. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Law Office of Alan Lee or establish an attorney-client relationship.