ADHIKARI LAW, Washington, DC. U.S. employers and H-1B beneficiaries should be aware that USCIS will begin accepting H-1B petitions on April 2, 2018 and through April 6th, 2018 under Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 numerical cap. If the petition is approved the H-1B beneficiary can start working on October 1, 2018 or earlier if he/she is eligible for H-1B cap-gap. It is important to start the H-1B sponsorship process well in advance to complete the pre-filing preparations including filing the Labor Condition Application (LCA) to Department of Labor. These pre-filing preparations may last for eight (8) days since the LCA certification itself takes at least 7 days out of those 8 days.
- Get all supporting documents ready (letters of support, end-client letter, necessary filing fees, etc.).
- Before filing the H-B petition the employer has to receive a certified Labor Condition Application (LCA) from the Department of Labor (DOL). It typically takes about eight days for DOL to certify an LCA. So the LCA should be filed as soon as possible and least 8 days before fourth business day of the month of April.
- Evidence of Beneficiary’s Educational Qualifications:
- A copy of beneficiary’s final transcripts. Petition has to include evidence of the beneficiary’s educational degree at the time of filing. If all of the requirements for the degree have been met, but the degree has not yet been awarded, the following alternate evidence may be submitted:
- A copy of the beneficiary’s transcript and a letter from the Registrar confirming that all of the degree requirements have been met (if the educational institution does not have a Registrar, such letter must be signed by the person in charge of the educational records where the degree will be awarded)
- A copy of beneficiary’s final transcripts. Petition has to include evidence of the beneficiary’s educational degree at the time of filing. If all of the requirements for the degree have been met, but the degree has not yet been awarded, the following alternate evidence may be submitted:
- If you are indicating that the beneficiary is qualified based on a combination of education and experience, we would have to include substantiating evidence to show that through work experience letters.
- If the beneficiary has only the foreign academic degree, if the the education is not related to the occupation, or has insufficient educational background then we will have to either the academic equivalency evaluation report or a work-experience evaluation report to satisfy the minimum education or experience requirement. This process can take 1-5 days.
Published, January 29, 2018.
If you want to learn more about Cap Subject H-1B or about our legal services for the preparation and the filing H-1B petition do contact us at (+1) 888 820 4430 (toll free), or (+1) 202 600 7745, or email us at contact@adhikarilaw.com