New Higher Fees for Some Consular Services

On December 6, 2011, the Department of State (“DOS”) adopted as final a new schedule of fees for consular services. Specifically, the DOS is increasing fees for consular services for nonimmigrant visas and border crossing cards.

The final rule establishes that nonimmigrant visa and border crossing card (“BCC”) application processing fees will be increased from $131 to $140. The new rule also provides for new tiers of application fees for certain categories of petition-based nonimmigrant visas and treaty trader visas. For example, H, L, O, P, Q, and R visas will be processed for $150.00. E visas will now be processed for $390.00. K visas will now be processed for $350.00. Finally, the rule adopts the increase in BCC fees charged to Mexican citizens under 15 from $13.00 to $14.00 so long as he or she applies in Mexico and their parent or guardian already possesses a BCC or is applying for one. The DOS has stated that the purpose of the increase is to ensure that sufficient resources are available to meet the cost of providing consular services.

The new fees are effective as of Dec. 6, 2011.

Sarah D. Monty is a partner and the lead immigration attorney for the immigration section at Monty & Ramirez LLP.

Contact Information:
Email: smonty@montyramirezlaw.com
Telephone: 281.493.5529
Website: http://www.montyramirezlaw.com/

H-1B Cap Almost Reached - Now is the Time to File

As of November 14, 2011, USCIS has received 56,300 petitions against the 65,000 cap amount on H-1B visas leaving less than 10,000 numbers available for the 2012 Fiscal Year filings. The numbers have risen drastically over the past two months and by 5,500 since the last report approximately two weeks ago. Employers can continue to submit H-1B cap petitions but should do as soon as possible because at this rate the cap is expected to be reached in the next few weeks. The 20,000 cap set aside for advanced degree holders was reached at the end of October.

Once the cap is reached, employers will not be able to file new petitions until April 1, 2012 with start dates of no earlier than October 1, 2012. As such, employers are encouraged to contact their Monty & Ramirez immigration counsel to prepare H-1B petitions for submission as soon as possible before the cap is reached.

Sarah D. Monty is a partner and the lead immigration attorney for the immigration section at Monty & Ramirez LLP.

Contact Information:
Email: smonty@montyramirezlaw.com
Telephone: 281.493.5529
Website: http://www.montyramirezlaw.com/

USCIS Announces H-1B Advanced Degree Cap Reached

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced this week that the H-1B Advanced Degree Cap has been met. According to their announcement, USCIS has received approximately 20,000 petitions counting toward the 20,000 master’s degree or higher cap exemption. Currently, 46,200 of the 65,000 available H-1B nonimmigrant petitions for the fiscal year have been received. Therefore, any advanced degree H-1B petitions will now be adjudicated under the remaining numbers for the H-1B cap.

The H-1B program allows employers to hire foreign workers who will be employed in a specialty occupation that requires theoretical or technical expertise, such as architects, scientists, engineers, accountants and computer programmers among others.

Sarah D. Monty is a partner and the lead immigration attorney for the immigration section at Monty & Ramirez LLP.

Contact Information:
Email: smonty@montyramirezlaw.com
Telephone: 281.493.5529
Website: http://www.montyramirezlaw.com/