3/13/2010

USCIS Announcement of FY 2011 H-1B Cap Filing Guidance and Three Key Points That Deserve Special Attention

Readers may misunderstand that this announcement is nothing but another carbon copy of FY 2009 announcement and guidance on the subject. Indeed, most of the guidance follows the last year's guidance, but there are a few which this year's FY-2011 H-1B cap filers should pay a close attention to, including but not limited to the following: 

• Filing address and format: Read carefully any changes in the filing addresses. No forwarding will be available if mailed to a wrong address! 

• Definition of receipt: Package must be delivered and the agency office must have it in their "possession." Postmark does not count when it is filed at the last minute. Additionally, delivery to the agency's Post Office P.O. boxes and reaching the postal station may not be considered accepted until it is picket up by the agency's pick-up crew at the postal stations. Unlike commercial delivery services, U.S. Express Mail has been experiencing this problem because the USPS keeps such express mail delivery in the postal stations until they are picked up by the agency's pick-up crew, which happens only one or two times a day. 

• Must enclose "certified" LCA. The USCIS temporary policy to accept H-1B petitions with the proof of LCA pending and before the LCA certification expires today. For the reasons, the H-1B announcement of yesterday emphasized importance of filing "certified" LCA and any filings without such certified LCA will be rejected or denied.