USCIS announced yesterday that it is has completed the computer-generated lottery system it employs for selecting H-1B petitions. Accepted cases have been receipted, but USCIS mentions that not all cases have been returned – receipt or not. A petitioner will not know for sure whether the case was accepted or not for the lottery until it receives the receipt notice or the checks uncashed in the mail with the unselected petition.

Over 236,000 H-1B cap-subject petitions were filed in the first five business days in April, meaning that over 150,000 petitions will not even be considered for adjudication. Plenty of commentators have harked on Congress to increase the cap because the large volume of H-1B filings means that it is evident employers need this visa. Regardless, the cap has remained steadfast since 2003 and legislation proposing its increase has not made progress.

USCIS also announced that some cases will be transferred from the Vermont Service Center to the California Service Center for adjudication. Both service centers have been lagging behind their stated goal times for adjudications in adjudicating H-1B transfer and extension cases. USCIS did not announce when it expects regular processing cases to be adjudicated. It has announced that it will begin adjudicating premium processing cases on May 12.

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Yesterday’s edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette contained an important op-ed piece coauthored by regional leaders on the necessity of increasing the H-1B visa cap. The authors are Sandy K. Baruah and Joseph D. Roman and Dennis Yablonsky. Sandy K. Baruah is president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber. Joseph D. Roman is president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Partnership. Dennis Yablonsky is CEO of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and its affiliate, the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce. As regional business leaders focused on improving local economies, they forcefully argue that the visa cap is hampering local businesses from achieving their potentials.

They start by recapping the problem. Within the first five days of April (when H-1B petitions for Fiscal Year 2017 are accepted), over 230,000 H-1B applications were filed for 85,000 spots. An H-1B requires the professional occupation to be a specialty occupation and for the beneficiary to be trained in that specialty occupation, requiring the attainment of Bachelor’s or its equivalent. There are a myriad of other requirements necessary for an employer to win its H-1B case. The problem is that 2/3 of cases do not even become cases. They are summarily returned to the petitioning employer.

Here are some valuable quotes:

The Great Lakes region has an acute need for highly skilled domestic and international talent to continue the economic renaissance occurring across our states. This is one of the reasons that the Great Lakes Metro Chambers Coalition, a group of nearly 40 chambers of commerce covering 12 states in the Great Lakes region, considers reform of immigration for highly skilled workers a key policy goal. Our chambers, and the employers we represent, believe high-skilled immigration is a critical part of the solution to closing the skilled- worker gap.

Encouraging legal, high-skilled immigration is vital for growth and prosperity. Shifting demographics are depleting talent pools and jeopardizing economic competitiveness in many Great Lakes metro areas. The result: serious shortages in the replacement of advanced-manufacturing workers in the Great Lakes. Add to that, in 2015, Midwest states saw STEM job postings total more than 2.4 million, an increase of more than 50 percent from 2014. This growth is happening at a time when many of the Midwest states’ populations are stagnant and our K-12 educational systems are struggling to address STEM preparation. If the rebirth of manufacturing is to help restore the American middle class, an influx of talented, highly skilled professionals is needed. Raising the H-1B visa cap is a critical part of the solution.

According to the American Enterprise Institute, for every H-1B visa approved, 1.83 jobs are created for American workers. This number jumps to 2.62 jobs when looking at H-1B visa applicants with STEM degrees. Moreover, contrary to common beliefs, wages for American workers are not negatively impacted. In fact, as the Government Accountability Office has stated, STEM employment wages are growing much faster than the national average. And virtually all STEM fields have lower unemployment rates than the national average; many are at full employment or lower.

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USCIS has announced that it will begin adjudicating H-1B petitions that have been accepted through Premium Processing on May 12. Even though a receipt notice issued for the H-1B petition that was filed through premium processing may read another date (most likely an April date), USCIS is considering the 15 day period for premium processing to begin on May 12. Even if a petition is approved in May, the beneficiary of an approved H-1B through the cap-subject lottery is not allowed to begin working on H-1B status until October 1.

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The H-1B cap has been reached. April 7 was the fifth business day of April and that was the final day to submit a cap-subject H-1B petition for a position that starts on October 1, 2016. The reason that petitions are only accepted for the first five days of April is that there is a limit of 65,000 cap-subject H-1B visas issued per year (plus 20,000 for beneficiaries with US Masters in jobs that require Masters). There is a lottery in effect because over 65,000 and 20,000 petitions are received. Last year around 233,000 petitions were submitted by businesses (mostly).

An H-1B petition can be submitted 6 months prior to the starting date. October 1 is the first day of the new fiscal year, which refreshes the number of H-1Bs available. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the H-1B cap was much higher than 65,000 (up to 195,000), but it has remained at 65,000 for over a decade. Proposed legislation has sought to increase that number, but movement has not been made. The 1990 IMMACT bill created the H-1B visa. Certain exemptions are made for H-1B petitions to avoid the cap and the lottery. A cap-exempt H-1B visa can be filed at any time during the year.

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In honor of April 1 being the first day that H-1B cap-subject petitions can be filed, here is some information about the H-1B program from the American Immigration Council. The first link is a fact sheet. The second link is a column about the cap and the possibility of increasing it.

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