H1B

Read the latest articles about h1b at Shah Peerally Law Group.

Seven Things Consulting Companies should consider in hiring OPT students.

With the coming of the new rules on STEM Optional Practical Training (OPT), many students and employers are wondering whether they should actually hire students on OPT or not. This article covers some specific situations as they relate to employers especially consulting companies. The article includes but is not limited to their business model and whether they might encounter issues regarding hiring OPT work permit holders. Note that this article does not cover every single issues related to the OPT but it only tries to give a perspective on the OPT employment. First…Read More Breaking News

End Client letter Nightmare – H1B Consulting Companies Beware!

May 9 2016 - Today a company in the Silicon Valley was indicted for H1B Fraud, one of the issues which was mentioned in the complaint is that: According to the indictment, the defendants submitted to the government, or caused to be submitted, H-1B visa application materials stating that the foreign workers named in the applications would be placed at specific companies in the United States.  However, according to the indictment, those companies either did not exist or never intended to receive the foreign workers named in the defendants’ applications.  For example, the…Read More Breaking News

USCIS completed the H1B 2017 lottery today.

USCIS announced on May 2, 2016, that it has completed data entry of all fiscal year 2017 H-1B cap-subject petitions selected in our computer-generated random process. USCIS will now begin returning all H-1B cap-subject petitions that were not selected. Due to the high volume of filings, USCIS is unable to provide a definite time frame for returning these petitions. USCIS asks petitioners not to inquire about the status of submitted cap-subject petitions until they receive a receipt notice or an unselected petition is returned. USCIS will issue an announcement once all the unselected…Read More Breaking News

Couple Indicted for $20 Million Visa Fraud Involving Indian Workers

Press Release from United States District Attorneys Office - Eastern District of Virginia. ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Raju Kosuri, 44, and Smriti Jharia, 45, of Ashburn, as well as four co-conspirators, were indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and visa fraud, among other charges. According to the indictment, Kosuri, his spouse Jharia, and their co-conspirators have fraudulently applied for more than 800 illegal immigration benefits under the H-1B visa program.  Since 2008, and at much greater scale since 2011, Kosuri has built a staffing…Read More Breaking News

H1B Visa Alternatives – What can someone do if not selected in the H1B lottery?

  • Posted on April 23, 2016
  • /Under H1B
April 23 2016 - As you all know USCIS has received approximately 250,000 for the 2017 H1B Cap, many are now worried and looking for other options or alternatives to the H1B visas.  The truth is that H1B is the most sought out visa in the industry. However there might be other solutions for you depending on your situation.  This is why it is good to have a good lawyer assess the case for you. The video below covers some but only some of the alternatives to the H1B visa.  You can call…Read More Breaking News

Fiscal Year 2017 H-1B Cap Premium Processing to Begin May 12

On May 12, 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions requesting premium processing, including petitions seeking an exemption for individuals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher. USCIS first announced in a news release that it would temporarily adjust its premium processing practice due to the historic premium processing receipt levels, combined with the possibility that the H-1B cap will be met in the first 5 business days of the filing season. USCIS provides premium processing service for certain employment-based petitions and guarantees a 15-calendar-day…Read More Breaking News

Difficulties of trying to re-enter the United States after UNNJ

Many of the ex-students of UNNJ who have left are asking whether they will be able to come back. The question is very difficult to answer unless there is an analysis of the specific situation in which the UNNJ students were in while “attending” the school. First of all for those who are found to have defrauded or presented fraudulent documents to any government officials including the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State and other government entities, they might find themselves in a situation of willful misrepresentation or fraud. See article…Read More Breaking News

10 Lessons to be learned from UNNJ (University of Northern New Jersey) and TVU (Tri Valley University) Sagas!

  • Posted on April 14, 2016
  • /Under CPT
UNNJ has hit many almost by surprise after the TVU saga. Unfortunately unlike TVU where the culprit was directly the school, here the culprits are hard to define. Are they the brokers or consultants? Or are they just the government which tried to trap the brokers? The question might never be answered unless the press or foreign governments questions the United States – why did this happen? Nonetheless the UNNJ saga is now going t to affect the decision of thousands of students who hope to study in the United States. The biggest…Read More Breaking News

Willful Misrepresentation or Fraud in providing Documents to apply for H1B, or OPT.

  • Posted on April 9, 2016
  • /Under CPT
April 8 2016 - Some of the students of the University of Northern New Jersey (UNNJ) who applied for an OPT or an H1B visa, have been receiving a number of requests for evidence (RFEs) based on their physical and actual attendance of UNNJ classes including but not limited to transcripts, parking space receipts, attendance records, etc. Since UNNJ was not a real school per se, many of those records were wrongfully obtained either through the brokers or the school administrations. As such bogus parking space receipts, false attendance records and false transcripts…Read More Breaking News

Can you transfer an H1B if your I-140 was revoked?

  • Posted on April 5, 2016
  • /Under H1B
This is a very popular question when H1B visa holders find themselves with revoked I-140 petitions.  The common scenario is as follows: Raj works for a company A, Company A has obtained an approved form I-140 based on an approved labor certification. Thanks to the approved I-140 Raj obtains another extra three years on his H1B bringing it to 9 years. Raj has reached 7th year of a 9 years extension and Raj decides to move to company B. Raj presently believes that since he has two more years on his H1B, he…Read More Breaking News

H1B Cap Timeline – FY 2017

March 3 2016 - Now that the H1B cap for the fiscal year 2017 is opened, many are calling and want to know about the timeline of the processing of the H1B Cap cases filed in 2016 for the year 2017. This is our projected timeline on the previous random selection situation (H1B lottery). This is what we are expecting based on the March 2016 press release from the USCIS and based on previous years of H1B cap processing: April 8th 2016 - last day, H1B cap cases will be accepted by USCIS…Read More Breaking News

Is USCIS abusing RFEs and NOIDs?

  • Posted on March 30, 2016
  • /Under H1B
  Recently we have noticed a surge in requests for evidence(RFE) and notice of intent to deny(NOID).  While the RFEs and NOIDs are normal tools adopted by the USCIS to look into cases which have insufficient information or for clarification, officers has the discretion to actually issue RFEs or NOIDs under 8 CFR 103.2(b)(8).  The rule also allows officers to issue denials without RFEs or NOIDs. However accordingly to a policy memorandum issued in June 3, 2013 (Requests for Evidence (Final)),"...an RFE is not to be issued when the evidence already submitted establishes…Read More Breaking News

H1B Cap News – FY 2017 Cap

March 28 2016 - Announcement from the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), regarding H1B Cap for the Fiscal Year 2017. As confirmed by the message of AILA below, USCIS will accept H1B Cap cases for the first 5 business days which in this case will be falling on April 7th 2016. Note that this does not mean that you wait the last day to send your applications. We recommend mailing your cases earlier but not before April 1, 2016. See notice from AILA below: "USCIS confirmed to AILA that standard procedures will apply…Read More Breaking News

5 Tips how to answer an OPT/CPT RFE

  • Posted on March 25, 2016
  • /Under CPT
Recently we have handled many RFEs (Request for Evidence) cases on OPT (Optional Practical Training) , H1B and H4 EAD RFEs based on OPT or CPT (Curriculum Practical Training). The idea of those RFEs are to make sure that the students did not abuse OPTs or CPTs. The most common questions on those are based on the time of the candidates F1 student/OPT visas namely: Proving that the students have actually attended classes including proving their living within commuting distance of the schools; How much was being paid under OPT and CPT; Details…Read More Breaking News