Talk about U.S. Immigration

H1B cap reached for 2012 Fiscal Year

H1B cap is reahed on 22nd November, 2011 for the Fiscal Year 2012. USCIS announced on 11/23/11 that it has received sufficient number of H1B petitions.

H1B petitions were last receipted on 11/22/11, reported USCIS and that commencing 11/23/11 USCIS would reject all new filings of cap subject H1Bs.

Masters Cap exemption, allotted at 20,000, was reached even earlier. Cap exempt H1Bs and extension applications for H1B status that were already counted in the Cap may still be filed.

This means U.S. employers no longer would be able to hire new H1B workers starting work this Fiscal Year. Free economy needs that employers be able to hire workers according to the business needs. Immigration Law must give employers this flexibility. It is neesssary to increase the H1B quota.

Exchange visitor and student visa

Visa issuance for students and exchange visitor is resumed after a temporary halt for a week at all U.S. Consulates.

F, M and J visa issuance was temporarily stopped at all U.S. Embassies and Consulates. The issue apppears to be a technological glitch because of which Consulates were unable to verify data with the Students and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).

Foreign student admissions at U.S. educational institutions are required to be through the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) also known as SEVIS. Schools admitting the foreign students and the Consulates issuing visa are required to timely update and verify student information before taking any action invloving foreign students. The interactive systems helps communication between schools and involved government agencies. A systems failure could make it impossible to verify student data with SEVIS.

Students may be delayed in joining the selected course program, DOS had cautioned earlier. The attending issues joining the course late may follow even after receiving student or exchange visitor visa.

Department of State, that controls the U.S. Consulates quoted its inability and had earlier suspended issuance of all F, M, and J visa. Fortunately, the systems failure was detected and fixed within days and government begins visa issuance.