United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a news release today with a lot of good reminders regarding the H-1B petition deadline and process.
There are a couple new nuggets of information, however.
First, USCIS is adjusting its premium process practices in anticipation that the cap will be reached in the first five business days of the filing season. “In order to prioritize data entry for cap subject H-1B petitions, USCIS will begin premium processing for H-1B cap-subject petitions requesting premium processing no later than May 11, 2015.” Petitioners should plan accordingly.
Second, USCIS has released a new checklist called Form M-735, Optional Checklist for Form I-129 H-1B Filings. Take a look. This checklist will be really helpful to petitioners to understand the overall process. The checklist is only for the internal benefit of the petitioner/practitioner and should *not* be submitted to USCIS. Petitioners should also heed the note at the bottom:
NOTE: This optional checklist is provided to assist H-1B petitioners in completing Form I-129. It is not a substitution for or alteration of statutory or regulatory requirements. USCIS recommends that you review the relevant statutory and regulatory requirements, as well as the appropriate form instructions, before completing and submitting Form I-129.
The checklist is thorough and may be daunting. Contact us if you were trying to do it on your own and have decided you’d rather have some help.
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