6/25/2007

The USCIS has approved 41,000 cap-subject cases and 12,500 U.S. master degree cases as of now. They have issued about 10,000 RFEs for cap-subject cases which are pending. Approximately 4,000-5,000 RFE have been issued for U.S. master degree cases and they are in this regard still pending. They held-up approximately 1,000 cap-subject cases for potential availability beyond those cases which had been selected, it appears that these may be rejected and returned. For the Chile-Singapore cases, they have already exhausted the special number for these cases and there are no numbers that add to the cap-subject quota from the Chile-Singapore unused numbers.

By now, they fixed no-winners in the lottery. There has been some delay in sending out rejection notices and return of checks. These rejection notices and return checks will be completely mailed by July 20, 2007.

The California Service Center has been experiencing delays in processing of receipt or approval notices for the selected cases and approved cases. Soon, the CSC will post a special email number for inquiry of these cases on the USCIS website.

It is expected that a large number of people whose H-1B cap petitions have been approved and who intend to apply and enter the U.S. on the H-1B visa from outside of the U.S. Under the current U.S. Department of State policy, the FY 2008 cap H-1B visa can be applied 90 days prior to the valid date of the H-1B petition. Accordingly, they will be able to apply for the visa at the consular posts beginning from July 1, 2007. However, this does not mean that they can enter on the H-1B visa 90 days prior to October 1, 2007. Admission to the U.S. is regulate4d by the DHS USCBP. Currently the CBP policy does not permit such alien to enter the U.S. until 10 days prior to October 1, 2007. 

Accordingly, the earliest they can enter the U.S. on the H-1B cap visa which has been issued will be September 21, 2007. Finally, the fact that they are allowed to enter the U.S. 10 days prior to the effective date of the H-1B petition does not mean that the alien can start working for the petitioning employer. This rule is regulated by the USCIS. Under the USCIS rule, the earliest such alien can take the employment with the petitioning employer is October 1, 2007. The employers and the alien beneficiaries should be mindful of these three different policies and rules.