Immigration Update
Immigration News and Analysis
for Clients and Friends of Borene Law Firm
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85,000 H-1 Work Sponsorship Registrations Selected in
March 2021 H-1 Work Visa Lottery
On March 30, 2021, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had completed selection of the initial round of
H-1 temporary work visa registrations. In 2020, more than 270,000 registrations were submitted for the 85,000 annual quota. No official final numbers have yet been reported by USCIS for total registrations in the March 2021 lottery, but unofficial guesses range from 250,000 to more than 300,000. If fewer than 85,000 of the initial round of selected registrations complete the petition process by June 30, 2021, a second round of lottery selections is expected in August, 2021 for the unused numbers from the 85,000 quota. The H-1 is the most commonly used temporary work visa for sponsorship for newly-hired international professional-level positions (i.e. positions requiring at least Bachelor's degree or equivalent).
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USCIS Restores 2004 Policy of Deference to Prior Adjudications for Extensions of Previously Approved Petitions such as Temporary Work Visa Petitions including H-1, L-1 and E-2
Effective April 27, 2021, USCIS issued guidance restoring the 2004 deference policy which had been rescinded in 2017 by the previous administration. The restored policy generally gives deference to prior approved determinations when adjudicating new extension requests involving the same employer-sponsor and the same worker, unless important changes in case facts have occurred.
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Software Developers and Other Computer Professionals Account for More Than 50% of All New H-1 Temporary Work Visa Occupations
The U.S. Department of Labor reported the top 10 occupations for "Specialty Occupation" work visas for the 6 months ending March 31, 2021. The top 5 occupations were Software Developers, Computer Occupations (All Other), Software Developers (Systems Software), Electrical Engineers and Computer Systems Analysts. More than 50% of the employer-sponsored H-1 workers went to just 3 states; California, Washington and Texas.
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Tip of the Month
Where Can You Go, When the H-1 Quota Says No?
There Are Many Other Work Visa Options
If you are an employer who missed out on this year's H-1 quota, there are still many other work visa options to legally "fill the gap" until October 1, 2022 when the new FY 2023 H-1 quota reopens.
Other work visa options include TN, E-3, L-1, O-1, E-2, F-1, J-1, J-2, L-2, Q-1, CPT or OPT work permission and many more.
For more details about other work visa options, read our FAQs.
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For the latest Official Processing Times from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for Visa Petitions and Immigration Applications
For the latest information from the U.S. Department of State on Immigrant Visa “Green Card” Quota Backlog (Priority) Dates
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Borene Law Firm In the News
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Borene Law Firm rated "AV Preeminent" in 2021 - "the highest possible Peer Review Rating in legal ability and ethical standards" for the 27th consecutive year from "the gold standard in attorney ratings" - The Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, All Editions, 1994 - present.
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George Maxwell was an expert speaker on the topic of " Overcoming COVID-19 Challenges: Creative Solutions for Nonimmigrant Visa Processing and Global Travel" in a program sponsored by the
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Jeanne Kildow was an expert speaker on "Employment-Based Immigration Preference Categories"
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Scott Borene recognized by other lawyers as 2020 Immigration Lawyer of the Year in Minnesota as noted by
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Copyright Borene Law Firm, P. A., 2021
Immigration Update is a publication of:
Borene Law Firm
U.S. & Global Immigration
3950 IDS Center
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402
United States of America
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The information in this Immigration Update should not be considered specific legal advice; it is intended for informational purposes only. Anyone seeking specific legal advice should contact an appropriately experienced lawyer for a confidential, personalized consultation. |
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