Archive for May, 2010

USCIS Updates H-1B and H-2B Cap Count as of April 22, 2010

Henry Chang | May 3, 2010 in United States Immigration | Comments (0)

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has announced that, as of April 22, 2010, 16,025 H-1B petitions filed under the regular cap and 6739 H-1B petitions filed under the Master’s exemption cap have been received. As explained in our article on the H-1B category, the annual cap on H-1Bs is 65,000, with an additional 20,000 available to aliens with U.S. Master’s (or higher) degrees.

USCIS has also announced that, as of April 21, 2010, USCIS approved 66,000 H-2B petitions of the 66,000 allocated per fiscal year. Currently, there are 1,545 petitions still pending. The H-2B cap set by Congress is 66,000 per fiscal year, with 33,000 to be allocated for employment beginning in the 1st half of the fiscal year (October 1 – March 31) and 33,000 to be allocated for employment beginning in the 2nd half of the fiscal year (April 1 – September 30). Any unused numbers from the first half of the fiscal year are made available for use by employers seeking to hire H-2B workers during the second half of the fiscal year. There is no “carry over” of unused H-2B numbers from one fiscal year to the next.


Statement by President Obama on Senate Proposal to Fix the Broken U.S. Immigration System

Henry Chang | in United States Immigration | Comments (0)

On April 29, 2010, the White House issued a statement by President Obama on the Senate’s Proposal for immigration reform. This press release is reproduced below:

“It is the federal government’s responsibility to enforce the law and secure our borders, as well as to set clear
rules and priorities for future immigration. The continued failure of the federal government to fix the broken
immigration system will leave the door open to a patchwork of actions at the state and local level that are
inconsistent and as we have seen recently, often misguided.

The proposal outlined today in the Senate is a very important step in the process of fixing our nation’s broken
immigration system. I am especially pleased to see that this detailed outline is consistent with the bipartisan
framework presented by Senators Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham last month, and is grounded in the
principles of responsibility and accountability.

What has become increasingly clear is that we can no longer wait to fix our broken immigration system, which
Democrats and Republicans alike agree doesn’t work. It’s unacceptable to have 11 million people in the United
States who are living here illegally and outside of the system. I have repeatedly said that there are some
essential components that must be in immigration legislation. It must call for stronger border security
measures, tougher penalties for employers who hire illegal immigrants and clearer rules for controlling future
immigration. And it must require those who are here illegally to get right with the law, pay penalties and taxes,
learn English, pass criminal background checks and admit responsibility before they are allowed to get in line
and eventually earn citizenship. The outline presented today includes many of these elements. The next critical
step is to iron out the details of a bill. We welcome that discussion, and my Administration will play an active role
in engaging partners on both sides of the aisle to work toward a bipartisan solution that is based on the
fundamental concept of accountability that the American people expect and deserve.”

The official press release is available here.