Adhikari Law, Washington DC. Starting from April 2, 2018 through April 6th, 2018 USCIS will be accepting H-1B petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 cap. It will also temporarily suspend premium processing for all FY 2019 cap-subject petitions, including petitions seeking an exemption for individuals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher. This suspension is expected to last until Sept. 10, 2018. During this time, USCIS will continue to accept premium processing requests for H-1B petitions that are not subject to the FY 2019 cap. USCIS will notify the public before resuming premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions or making any other premium processing updates.
Requesting Expedited Processing
While premium processing is suspended, a petitioner may submit a request to expedite an FY 2019 cap-subject H-1B petition if it meets the criteria on the Expedite Criteria webpage of USCIS. It is the petitioner’s responsibility to demonstrate that they meet at least one of the expedite criteria. USCIS reviews all expedite requests on a case-by-case basis.
Why USCIS is Temporarily Suspending Premium Processing for Quota-based Petitions
This temporary suspension will help USCIS to reduce overall H-1B processing times. By temporarily suspending premium processing, USCIS will be able to:
- Process long-pending petitions, which USCIS has currently been unable to process due to the high volume of incoming petitions and the significant surge in premium processing requests over the past few years; and
- Prioritize adjudication of H-1B extension of status cases that are nearing the 240 day mark.
- 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.
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