(1888PressRelease)
June 17, 2009 - On May 5, 2009, a day celebrated around the world as Cinco de Mayo, the USCIS kept counting H-1B petitions received as the H-1B cap was approached. "They continue to pour in," says Ms. Banerjee, "As of May 4, 2009, somewhere in the neighborhood of 45,000 H-1B cap-subject petitions and about 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed." Meanwhile, USCIS continues to accept advanced degree petitions. Experience has shown that not all received petitions are approvable.
Explains Ms Banerjee, "These numbers appear identical to the previous week, on April 27th, when the statement released by USCIS was exactly the same. But it is progress as compared to the 20th of April, when the number of USCIS-received H-1B cap-subject petitions was a thousand less, about 44,000, and the relevant number was a thousand less than that, about 43,000, as of April 13th. "It really is a bureaucracy, and this demonstrates that the process is slowly if inexorably playing itself out. But there still is time to get some of the eligible petitions submitted."
"Remember that a lot of issues are involved with H-1B petitions," Ms. Banerjee asserts, "Petitions get rejected for a laundry list of reasons, with fraud or malfeasance being only the most visible of those reasons. What you have to keep in mind is that the cap of 65,000 for all the H-1B petitions has to eventually be accepted, unless they aren't submitted in the first place. You have to think positively when it comes to H-1Bs."
If you still plan to submit a petition, you must first evaluate your situation aggressively, fill out all your accompanying paperwork, submit to whatever procedures are required, and then just go for it, Ms. Banerjee adds. Concludes Ms. Banerjee, "If you do it right, your petition might be just as valid as any others submitted. But you have to give yourself a chance."
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