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Immigration Updates and FAQs

By Humera Subhani

May 2012

Cap Type	Cap Amount	Cap Eligible Petitions	Date of Last Count
H-1B Regular Cap	65,000	20,600	04/13/2012
H-1B Master’s Degree Exemption	20,000	9,700	04/13/2012

FY 2013 H-1B Cap Count

USCIS announced that it received roughly 22,000 petitions for cap-subject H-1B nonimmigrant visas in the first four days after which the agency began accepting applications. According to USCIS spokesperson, Bill Wright, the agency received “approximately 22,000 H-1B petitions for the fiscal 2013 beginning October 1 this year.” The petitions received were for the Congressionally mandated cap of 65,000 H-1B visas in the general category and another 20,000 H-1B visas in the advanced degree exemption category.

The amount of petitions received is much greater than what was seen in previous years. For example, in 2011, in the first week, only 5,900 petitions for the general category and 4,500 petitions toward the advanced degree exemption cap were received. The H-1B visa is used by U.S. businesses to employ highly skilled foreign nationals in specialty fields such as science, engineering, and computer technology.

EB2 Cutoff Retrogresses for India and mainland China
The Department of State (DOS) has confirmed that Employment-Based, Second Preference priority dates have retrogressed for applicants from India and mainland China. The DOS will not issue any new visas to EB2 adjustment applicants from these areas with priority dates after August 15, 2007. However, visa applicants whose applications are being processed at consular posts in April may be issued visas, as those numbers were allocated before the dates retrogressed.

USCIS will continue to accept and process applications for adjustment according to the priority dates listed in the DOS April 2012 Visa Bulletin. All applications with EB2 priority dates after August 15, 2007 received during this time will be forwarded to Visa Control at the DOS to be held in a “Pending” file until new visas become available. New visa numbers are not expected to become available until the start of the Fiscal Year 2013 beginning on October 1, 2012.

USCIS Posts New Resources to Help Permanent Residents Prepare for Naturalization Interviews
USCIS Office of Citizenship has just introduced three new practice tests that will help permanent residents prepare for their naturalization interviews. These tests are available online and can help permanent residents prepare for the test. The first activity will help permanent residents with general commands they may hear from an Immigration Services Officer during the naturalization interview. A practice test called “Understanding Commands for Naturalization Interview,” will help ensure that you have prepared for this portion of the naturalization process. Selfstudy flash cards and practice exercises will additionally help prepare you.

Two additional activities focus on vocabulary words that you may hear during the naturalization interview or may read on Form N-400, the Application for Naturalization.

VISA PREFERENCE NUMBERS FOR MAY 2012

FAMILY	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	01May05	01May05
2A	15Nov09	15Nov09
2B	22Feb04	22Feb04
3rd	08Mar02	08Mar02
4th	01Dec00	01Dec00

EMPLOYMENT	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	Current	Current
2nd	15Aug07	Current
3rd	08Sep02	01May06
Other	08Sep02	01May06
4th	Current	Current
5th	Current	Current1B