Filing Tips for H-1B Applications For fiscal year 2009, the first H-1B filing date is Tuesday, April 1, 2008. Petitions are to be filed at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Vermont and California Service Centers, depending on jurisdiction.

The Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers recommends the following tips for employers planning to file H-1B applications:

• Check filing fee amounts and submit fees in separate checks to avoid inadvertent errors.

• Answer all questions in the application and check answers for consistency. Original signatures are required. Blue ink makes it easy for USCIS to confirm an original.

• Send only one petition per envelope.

• USCIS uses the information in Part C of the H-1B Data Collection and Filing Fee Exemption Supplement (Form I-129, page 11) to determine whether a petition is subject to the 65,000 and 20,000 (U.S. master's degree or higher) H-1B numerical limitation caps. Part C, #4 of the Supplement does not refer to all Js with a waiver of the two-year foreign residency rule. Do not check "yes" unless the worker is a doctor who has been granted a Conrad 30 waiver to work in a medically underserved area.

• Clearly label all H-1B cap cases in red ink in the top margin of the I-129 petition. Use the following codes: • Reg. Cap (65,000 regular cap cases minus the C/S cap cases received)

• C/S Cap (Chile/Singapore H-1B1s)

• U.S. Masters (20,000 cap exemption for beneficiaries with U.S. Masters or higher degrees)

• Exempt (for petitions filed by certain institutions of higher education; nonprofit organizations; and nonprofit research organizations or governmental research organizations, as defined in USCIS regulations) USCIS Announces Centralized Filing Location for H-1B Cap Exempt Petitioners U.S.

Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a centralized filing location for H-1B "cap exempt" petitioners, which includes petitions filed by institutions of higher education and nonprofit organizations or entities related to or affiliated with such institutions, and nonprofit research organizations or governmental research organizations.

The mailing addresses are: For direct mail: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services California Service Center Attn: CAP EXEMPT H-1B Processing Unit P.O. BOX 30040 Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-3004 For non-U.S.

Postal Service deliveries (e.g., private couriers): U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services California Service Center Attn: CAP EXEMPT H-1B Processing Unit 24000 Avila Road, Room 2312 Laguna Niguel, CA 92677 USCIS asks H-1B petitioners to mark the outside of the envelope and the top margin of the I-129 form with "EXEMPT."

The agency said this will ensure quick identification of the H-1B filing throughout the petition's processing at the California Service Center.

If a cap exempt H-1B petition is received at a different Service Center, USCIS said, that Service Center will "expeditiously forward the petition to the CSC for processing." In the near future, USCIS will post special filing instructions to Form I-129 requiring all qualifying H-1B cap exempt petitions to be filed at the CSC.

USCIS noted that the highest volume of H-1B filings occurs during the month of April. "This may result in longer than average receipting times or other interruptions in processing times," USCIS warned, adding that petitioners may file a qualifying H-1B cap exempt petition at any time of the year dependent on the petitioner's need, but no earlier than six months ahead of the intended start date.

For more information, see http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/H-1B_Filing_30jan08.pdf. Many Employment Visa Number Cut-Off Dates Advance in March The Department of State's Visa Office announced that visa number cut-off date movement for March in several employment categories is significant.

Advancement of the priority cut-off dates now, the Department said, "should prevent a situation later in the fiscal year where there are large amounts of numbers available but not enough time to use them." If an expected increase in number use materializes from U.S.

Citizenship and Immigration Service processing, future cut-off date movements could slow or stop, the Department warned. The India employment-based second preference category remains unavailable in March.

The March 2008 Visa Bulletin, which includes a chart showing the cut-off dates in each category, is available at http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_3953.html. (To be continued)