Corporate Immigration Law News

In March, USCIS conducted an initial random selection on properly submitted electronic registrations for the fiscal year 2025 H-1B cap, including for beneficiaries eligible for the advanced degree exemption. Only those petitioners with selected registrations for FY 2025 are eligible to file H-1B cap-subject petitions during the filing period on their registration selection notice. The initial filing period for those with selected registrations for FY 2025 has passed, as it was from April 1 through June 30, 2024.

USCIS today announced that it would need to select additional registrations to reach the FY 2025 regular cap numerical allocation, but the announcement did not indicate exactly when the second round of selections will take place. As such, USCIS  will select additional registrations for beneficiaries from previously submitted electronic registrations using a random selection process, and will notify prospective petitioners, as well as counsel, of those who were selected in this second round.  If history is any indicator, it is likely that USCIS will complete the second round of selections within the first 10 days of August.  Once the lottery is completed, USCIS will notify the employers of the beneficiaries who are selected, along with their counsel,  and the sponsoring employer will have up to 90 days to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for the beneficiary named in the applicable selection notice. USCIS will then announce when it has completed this second round of selections and notifications.

In its press release, the USCIS explained that it will not be conducting a second selection exclusively for the advanced degree exemption (the master’s cap), as enough master’s cap registrations were selected in the first round and a sufficient number of petitions were received based on those registrations, as projected, to meet the FY 2025 masters cap numerical allocation.  So the second round of selection for the regular cap will include previously submitted registrations that indicated eligibility for not only the U.S. master’s cap but also those which indicated only eligibility for the regular (bachelor’s) cap.

Those with selected registrations will have their USCIS online accounts updated to include a selection notice, which includes details of filing deadlines and where to file these second round selections.

If you have any questions please contact: Anthony F. Siliato, Scott R. Malyk, Lin R. Walker, or Stacey A. Simon.

In his Affirmative Relief Announcement of June 18, 2024, President Biden announced that the Department of Homeland Security will take action to ensure that U.S. citizens with noncitizen spouses and children can keep their families together.  This specifically covers spouses and children who entered the United States without inspection and are, thus, labeled “undocumented” and without status in the United States.  USCIS has announced that it will begin accepting applications on August 19, 2024.

This new process will help certain noncitizen spouses and children apply for lawful permanent residence – status that they are already eligible for – without leaving the country and being possibly subject to a 3 or 10 year bar to re-enter the United States.

In order to be eligible, noncitizens must have entered the United States without inspection and– as of June 17, 2024 – have resided in the United States for 10 or more years and be legally married to a U.S. citizen, while satisfying all applicable legal requirements, including having no disqualifying criminal history and not posing a threat to national security or public safety.  Additionally, certain noncitizen children of applicants may also be eligible.

More specific details about eligibility and the application process will be published in a forthcoming Federal Register publication.

Those who are approved after DHS’s case-by-case assessment of their application will be afforded a three-year period to apply for permanent residency. They will be allowed to remain with their families in the United States and be eligible for work authorization for up to three years. This will apply to all married couples who are eligible.

Our firm will provide more details as they become available.

If you have any questions please contact: Anthony F. Siliato, Scott R. Malyk, Lin R. Walker, or Stacey A. Simon.