Adhikari Law, Washington, DC, Jan 7, 2020. U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina held that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had violated rulemaking procedure under Administrative Procedure Act (APA) when it issued a policy memorandum on August 7, 2018 which substantially changed existing immigration regulations. USCIS new policy would have penalized[Read More]
News & Alerts
Join us for a webinar to learn about New Registration Systems for H-1B quota cases and Filing Tips
RSVP with your name, email and telephone number to info@adhikarilaw.com to receive the calling detail. We will be scheduling a calling in next few days. If you or your employer want to learn more about H-1B program or about our legal services for the preparation and the filing H-1B petition contact us at (+1) 202[Read More]
USCIS’ Online registration system for H-1B cap cases
For 2020 H-1B cap cases (FY 2021), USCIS requires an online registration between March 1st through March 20th, 2020. The government has published Final Rule for the H-1B registration requirement. Here are the important applicable procedures: (1) Electronic registration requirement: The regulations requires H-1B Petitioners to register online at www.uscis.gov before filing a cap-subject H-1B[Read More]
USCIS Announces Implementation of H-1B Electronic Registration Process for the Cap Season in 2020 (Fiscal Year 2021)
Dec 6, 2019, Washington, D.C. USCIS announced today that it has completed a successful pilot testing phase and is implementing the registration process in the next H-1B lottery. Earlier we had posted a news article about the USCIS proposal to implement H-1B registration process. Employers seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions for the fiscal year[Read More]
USCIS Proposes to Increase Fees for various Applications
Nov. 8, 2019, Washington DC, Adhikari Law PLLC. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has posted a 314 pages public notice on Federal Register for public inspection about increase on fees (about 21%) for various types of immigration applications including H-1B ($100), L-1 ($355), TN ($245), changing Premium Processing limit to 15 Business Days in[Read More]
USCIS plans to Implement e-registration process for the fiscal year 2021 H-1B Cap Cases (to be filed in 2020) Pending completed testing of the System
Nov. 7, 2019, Washington DC, Adhikari Law PLLC. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced today a final rule that will require a non-refundable small fee of $10 for each H-1B e-registration submitted by petitioning employers, once it implements the electronic registration system. The pre-registration was previously announced by the agency. The H-1B program allows[Read More]
SEVP Policy Guidance on Practical Training: Determining a Direct Relationship Between Employment and a Student’s Major Area of Study
Student and Visitor Exchange Program (SEVP) of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within U.S. Department of Homeland Security issues a Policy Guidance which addresses both OPT and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) OPT extension opportunities and explains that students are responsible for providing a description of how their job relates to their major[Read More]
H-1B Employees are subjected to Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax withholding
Employees in F-1, J-1, M-1, Q-1 or Q-2 non-immigrant status are exempt from FICA therefore no withholding has to be made. However once these nonimmigrant change their visa status to H-1B, generally beginning from Oct 1st, then they are no longer exempt from FICA. So the employer should review payroll procedures and update tax withholding[Read More]
DHS Proposes a small Registration Fee for Petitioners Seeking to File H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions
September 3, 2019, Adhikari Law, Washington, DC. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced a notice of proposed rule making that would require petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions to pay a $10 fee for each electronic registration they submit to USCIS. Because USCIS must expend resources to implement and maintain the H-1B registration system,[Read More]
FAQ about Automatic re-validation of an expired non-immigrant visa based on valid status: What is re-validation of a nonimmigrant visa?
What is re-validation of a nonimmigrant visa? Generally, the nonimmigrant visa is valid until the duration given on the visa itself. The validity of an expired nonimmigrant visa issued under Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA” or “Act”) may be considered to be automatically extended to the date of application for readmission in cases where the[Read More]