93:
would be subjected to a lottery to select just the right number that would hit the cap. USCIS would not accept further petitions in that fiscal year. Moreover, petitions where the beneficiary had a U.S. Master's degree would be counted against the 20,000 limit first, and if that limit was hit before the 65,000 general limit, further such petitions would be counted against the 65,000 limit. Petitions that were submitted later, or that were submitted on the last date and did not win the lottery for the last date, would get no preferential treatment in later years.
97:
changed its selection process effective fiscal year 2009: it would now receive cap-subject petitions for at least the five working days of April, and, if it received enough petitions in that period, it would stop receiving applications and select petitions to adjudicate by putting all received petitions through a lottery. Unselected petitions in a given year continued to not receive preferential treatment in subsequent years.
196:, Cassie Ramos noted that while the lawsuit highlighted problems with the H-1B lottery, the proposed solution of using a waiting list suffered from its own problems, without a way for the employees in the waitlist to continue to stay and work in the country. Instead, the author proposed that the cap gap for
173:
Between
October 2016 and March 2017, there were several iterations of amended complaints, motions to dismiss, and answers. During this time, one of the original plaintiffs, Tenrec, Inc. and employee Sergii Sinienok, withdrew from the lawsuit, so that Walker Mary LLC and Xiaoyang Zhu were now the lead
96:
During the 2008 fiscal year, the USCIS received enough cap-subject petitions to hit its cap within the first two working days of April, and had to put all petitions through a lottery to select which ones to adjudicate. To reduce pressure on overnight courier services and USCIS service centers, USCIS
41:
petitions to adjudicate in case more petitions were received than the cap for the fiscal year. The plaintiffs were two pairs of H-1B petitioner (employer) and beneficiary (prospective employee). The case was decided against the plaintiffs, and an appeal was withdrawn after both plaintiffs withdrew.
92:
petitions it received in a given fiscal year it would adjudicate, while staying within the legislatively determined cap of 65,000 + 20,000. The regulation stated that all petitions "before" the date of crossing the cap would be adjudicated, whereas petitions received on the day of hitting the cap
156:. On July 7, a class certification was filed, seeking to represent all employers and employees hurt by the H-1B lottery. A motion for summary judgment was also filed, asking the court to rule in favor of the plaintiffs and have an orderly lottery.
177:
On March 17, 2017, judge
Michael Simon made the Oregon District Court's final decision against the plaintiffs, so that the fiscal year 2018 lottery (that would be held in April 2017) could proceed as planned. The plaintiffs timely appealed to the
69:
petitions can be filed at most six months in advance of the start date, so the start date for filing petitions for a given fiscal year is April of the preceding calendar year. The most recent legislation changing the caps was the
138:(USCIS), challenging the H-1B lottery process. The plaintiffs were two pairs of petitioner (prospective employer) and beneficiary (prospective employee), where the beneficiary had not been selected in the H-1B lottery process:
164:
On August 8, 2016, USCIS filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. On
September 22, 2016, Michael Simon, a judge at the United States District Court for the District of Oregon, denied the USCIS motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
200:
be made flexible so that it could be extended by a year for anybody who did not get through the H-1B lottery. The article highlighted the importance of increasing caps in addressing the underlying issue.
876:
928:
938:
182:
on April 4, but on June 23, the case was dismissed after the plaintiffs withdrew as the lead plaintiffs won the lottery in fiscal year 2018 and no other willing lead plaintiff was found.
898:
673:
131:
179:
851:
455:
433:
135:
31:
221:
726:
153:
117:(FOIA) lawsuit against USCIS, seeking more transparency into the H-1B lottery process. USCIS responded on August 1, 2016, with three affirmative defenses.
621:
65:, with an annual cap of 65,000 for temporary skilled workers. The quotas apply for each fiscal year that begins in October of the previous calendar year.
751:
381:
114:
826:
801:
776:
355:
110:
933:
699:
529:
577:
356:"H-1B lottery's game of chance is legal, judge rules. The government will be able to distribute H-1B visas via lottery in April as usual"
599:
700:"Court ruling puts future of H-1B lottery in doubt. Effort to end H-1B lottery wins key decision in a federal court on Thursday"
552:
251:
222:"Lawsuit seeks to replace H-1B lottery with a filing-date-based system. Current distribution system called unfair and illegal"
578:"FOIA Lawsuit on H-1B Lottery Policies and Procedures. AILA v. USCIS, et al., No. 1:16-cv-00956 (D.D.C. filed May 20, 2016)"
71:
197:
503:
149:
The plaintiffs were represented by the law firm
Parrilli Renison, with attorney Brent Renison the point of contact.
426:
74:(passed December 6, 2004), which added 20,000 cap-exempt slots for workers with United States master's degrees.
481:
62:
377:
326:
256:
192:
530:"Lawsuit seeks the secrets behind the H-1B lottery. USCIS is redacting details about the lottery"
482:"70 FR 23775 - ALLOCATION OF ADDITIONAL H-1B VISAS CREATED BY THE H-1B VISA REFORM ACT OF 2004"
456:"70 FR 23775 - ALLOCATION OF ADDITIONAL H-1B VISAS CREATED BY THE H-1B VISA REFORM ACT OF 2004"
404:
84:
647:
922:
877:"Judge Denies Govt. Motion to Dismiss H-1B Lottery Lawsuit - Tenrec, Inc., v. USCIS"
16:
2016 class action lawsuit against United States
Citizenship and Immigration Services
622:"Defendant's Answer to Plaintiff's Claim for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief"
295:
89:
66:
38:
51:
35:
648:"Lawsuit Against DHS and USCIS Seeks Transparency in H-1B Lottery Process"
152:
On June 29, the complaint was amended to add claim for failure under the
88:
on May 5, 2005, describing its process for deciding which of the H-1B
509:. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. April 3, 2007
34:, challenging the lottery process used to decide which cap-subject
252:"Lawsuits Question Procedure and Substance of H-1B Lottery"
142:
Tenrec, Inc. for beneficiary Sergii
Sinienok (from Ukraine)
113:, with help from the American Immigration Council, filed a
553:"FOIA Suit Seeks To Peek Into 'Black Box' Of H-1B Lottery"
145:
Walker Mary LLC, for beneficiary
Xiaoyang Zhu (from China)
602:. American Immigration Lawyers Association. May 23, 2016
61:
The H-1B visa was introduced in its present form by the
132:
United States
District Court for the District of Oregon
320:
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245:
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241:
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929:
United States immigration and naturalization case law
349:
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665:
600:"Lawsuit Seeks Transparency in H-1B Lottery Process"
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United States Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
721:
719:
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693:
691:
572:
570:
939:United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
434:United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
136:United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
32:United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
484:. U.S. Government Programming Office. May 5, 2005
427:"USCIS TO IMPLEMENT H-1B VISA REFORM ACT OF 2004"
674:"H-1B Lottery Lawsuit Filed - Tenrec v. USCIS"
827:"Defendant's Motion to Dismiss the complaint"
30:, was a class action lawsuit brought against
8:
130:On June 2, 2016, a lawsuit was filed in the
752:"First Amended Class Allegation Complaint"
405:"H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004 -- H.R.4818"
382:United States Government Publishing Office
802:"Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment"
698:Thibodeau, Patrick (September 23, 2016).
52:H-1B visa § Evolution of the program
111:American Immigration Lawyers Association
82:The USCIS published a regulation in the
378:"Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005"
209:
354:Thibodeau, Patrick (March 23, 2017).
7:
407:. uslawnet.com, Xie Law Offices, LLC
528:Thibodeau, Patrick (May 24, 2016).
327:"Controversial H-1B Lottery Upheld"
220:Thibodeau, Patrick (June 6, 2016).
325:Koski, Ceridwen (March 28, 2017).
105:On May 20, 2016 (two weeks before
14:
672:Kowalski, Daniel (June 3, 2016).
250:Ramos, Cassie (August 22, 2016).
879:. LexisNexis. September 22, 2016
777:"Motion for Class Certification"
504:"USCIS Reached FY 2008 H-1B Cap"
646:Dellon, Leslie (May 23, 2016).
551:Olivo, Natalie (May 23, 2016).
403:Xie, Jeff (December 21, 2004).
934:2017 in United States case law
580:. American Immigration Council
1:
154:Administrative Procedure Act
72:H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004
26:, colloquially known as the
198:Optional Practical Training
955:
115:Freedom of Information Act
49:
331:The National Law Review
63:Immigration Act of 1990
296:"H-1B Lottery Lawsuit"
50:Further information:
857:. September 22, 2016
650:. Immigration Impact
101:Related FOIA lawsuit
28:H-1B Lottery Lawsuit
899:"Opinion and Order"
852:"Opinion and Order"
257:National Law Review
193:National Law Review
436:. December 9, 2004
384:. December 8, 2004
727:"Tenrec v. USCIS"
160:Motion to dismiss
946:
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904:. March 17, 2017
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85:Federal Register
57:Legislative caps
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757:. June 29, 2016
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107:Tenrec v. USCIS
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78:Lottery process
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23:Tenrec v. USCIS
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807:. July 7, 2016
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782:. July 7, 2016
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732:. June 2, 2016
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676:. LexisNexis
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923:Categories
908:August 15,
883:August 15,
861:August 15,
836:August 15,
811:August 15,
786:August 15,
761:August 15,
736:August 14,
706:August 13,
680:August 13,
654:August 15,
631:August 13,
606:August 13,
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559:August 13,
536:August 15,
513:August 12,
488:August 13,
466:August 13,
336:August 13,
301:August 13,
263:August 15,
228:August 15,
205:References
90:Form I-129
67:Form I-129
46:Background
39:Form I-129
440:March 29,
411:March 29,
388:March 29,
362:April 15,
186:Reception
555:. Law360
169:Decision
109:), the
902:(PDF)
855:(PDF)
830:(PDF)
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515:2017
490:2017
468:2017
442:2015
413:2015
390:2015
364:2017
338:2017
303:2017
265:2017
230:2017
121:Case
36:H-1B
925::
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