My status: on H1, visa expiring in September 2007. Rajiv's team applied for my H1 extension and I had I797 approvals till 2010. I had an H4 extension approval done for my wife as well. There is no employer change from first 3 years on H1 to second approval.
Some folks are predicting that H-1 quota may last a lot longer than just April.
Remember also, if there is a lottery, ALL cases received by and including 5 April will be included
Premium Processing for Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions to Begin April 15, 2013
Released: March 15, 2013
WASHINGTON: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 cap on Monday, April 1, 2013. Cases will be considered accepted on the date that USCIS receives a properly filed petition for which the correct fee has been submitted; not the date that the petition is postmarked.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 cap on Monday, April 1, 2013. Cases will be considered accepted on the date that USCIS receives a properly filed petition for which the correct fee has been submitted; not the date that the petition is postmarked.
The filing period for H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2014 numerical cap begins on April 1, 2013. USCIS anticipates that it may receive more than 65,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions and more than 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of individuals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher between April 1, 2013, and April 5, 2013. This could be the first time since April 2008 that the H-1B cap will require a lottery.
The H-1B Program
Be advised: Premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions will begin on April 15, 2013. See the Premium Processing section for more details.
I possess a US Master's Degree in Computer Science and also worked in the US for 7 yrs, 6 of them on H-1 which expired on May 31, 2012. I have since been in India and will complete 12 months of physical presence outside the US in early June 2013. I do have an employer ready to petition on my behalf on April 1st but could you please help shed some light on:
1. Given my past H-1 stay in US, am I subject to either cap of 65,000 or 20,000? If neither, can petition be filed anytime of year after 4/1? Since 12 mos. of physical stay in India will complete in June, can petition be filed on April 1st?
2. Does 12 month rule of physical stay outside the US apply if my current employer were to petition an L-1?
1. You will be subject to quota and USCIS will not accept the filing until one year is over.
2. Being outside for one year does give a fresh start on the L-1 times as well. And, L-1 are not subject to quota.
RFE In short:
1.Petitioner’s employee-employer relationship with the beneficiary which may include
- Contracts or letter from end-client.
- An itinerary with name, address and duration of work.
- Certified planning documents from County showing the Business is in Commercial Lot
- Documentary example of petitioner’s products or service.
- H1-B employees routinely met conditions of employment, including work
hours and invoices etc
-Petitioner works on Speciality Occupation mentioned in the labor
We received an RFE for evidences from end client. Anna and Rajiv submitted all the needed documents to USCIS and after a week, we got an email from Anna Baker saying that, USCIS approved my H-1 application with the I-94 attached to it, as well as the H-4's for his dependents.
On reading the message I was so excited as It has been a struggle for all 4 months with RFE for 8th year extension. Anna and Rajiv sincerely worked on the case to make it successful. Especially with complications in my cases, as there were vendor layers involved to the end client, atleast 30 to 40 people from my parent company, vendors and end client including Rajivs staff were directly or indirectly involved at each step of scrutiny on my documents and they all deserve my thanks too. Special Credits to Anna and Rajiv as they did a Great Job. Hurrah!!!!!!!!