[sajo]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

My friend says that his body shopper is charging a fee of $4500, of which $3000 is refundable if the visa is not through. I cautioned my friend to explore what exactly 'visa is not through' means, as it could have different perceptions.

The bodyshopper could be refunding the USCIS fees if the petition is not selected in the lottery. I think its an okay amount, if your friend has the money and is confident that the bodyshopper's credentials can pass the muster of the extra detail scrutiny each application is subjected to these days. I know that some companies spend many times more on each application, inclusive of lawyer's fees.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

What surprises me is the amount of fee being charged. A decade ago, the US INS used to charge a lot less for visas.

Yes, the application fees have gone up considerably, by atleast $2000 per application if not more, from what I have heard.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by josejoseph

Last year for the 2014 visa applications, the cap of 65,000 reached within 5 days.

But, is there a point to it? Companies are hoarding visas even though they have no work. My BIL and 20 odd colleagues got L1 visas last year from their large MNC company. After 8 months, none have gone abroad. There is no work. In my days, we left on the same day of visa issuance.

I did most of my H1/L1 stints in the 90s, when the rules were very relaxed. But the amount of misuse, mostly by Indian companies, led the INS to steadily increase the restrictions, now it feels like a noose.

Thanks to B1 visa misuse by Infosys, even B1 visas are being rejected steadily. I used to send couple people every year for 2-3 weeks for face-to-face with clients. Now due to the B1 rejections, even that is not possible.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Thanks to B1 visa misuse by Infosys, even B1 visas are being rejected steadily. I used to send couple people every year for 2-3 weeks for face-to-face with clients. Now due to the B1 rejections, even that is not possible.

Good point. I was thinking that B1's were being rejected for non-American companies, but I was wrong. Even one of my colleague's B1 was rejected last September. He was a newbie with less than a year's experience in our team.

The mistake he made was going right after another experienced team member, who got through after a few questions. But when the visa officer found out that the newbie was going to the same project and client, he rejected it right away saying 'why should so many go for the same project?'

@sajo--thanks for the information.

[sajo]

Originally Posted by Samurai

But, is there a point to it? Companies are hoarding visas even though they have no work. My BIL and 20 odd colleagues got L1 visas last year from their large MNC company. After 8 months, none have gone abroad.

I was under the impression that because L1 visas were so hard to get these days, companies are going en masse for H1s , instead of need based L1s. I may be wrong though..

[Samurai]

They sent 100s of L1 applicants and 20 got the visa. But they don't have work even for them. These companies are simply visa hoarders or visa squatters. People who need it genuinely will not get it.

[maddyoni10]

My friend says that his body shopper is charging a fee of $4500, of which $3000 is refundable if the visa is not through. I cautioned my friend to explore what exactly 'visa is not through' means, as it could have different perceptions.

Hi Vinabhi

Do you think you can pass on contact info of your friend/bodyshopper? I am keen on a H1B for family reasons and hence this message. Sorry for being and not contributing to the thread in any way.

Thanks
Madhav

[Mr_Bean]

USCIS has received 1,72,500 petitions for H1B.

Here is an update:
http://www.uscis.gov/news/uscis-reac...015-h-1b-cap-0

[Samurai]

I am sure most of it is Visa hoarding by large companies. Now they will have H1-B visa holders on bench.

But one good news I heard was that wives of H1-B holders can now work in US. That was an unfairness they had imposed for 20+ years, for no sound reason at all.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by Samurai

But one good news I heard was that wives of H1-B holders can now work in US. That was an unfairness they had imposed for 20+ years, for no sound reason at all.

The ability to work for dependants of H1B holders is only for certain categories such as scientists and so on, IT related folk are excluded.

[racer_ash]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

The ability to work for dependants of H1B holders is only for certain categories such as scientists and so on, IT related folk are excluded.

The link below mentiones science and tech category. Most IT companies including mine send their petitions under the Tech category. That means most of the IT guys on H-1B category will become eligible to make their spouses work in the US.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/w...w/33440655.cms

Also, looks like the lottery too is done.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/33595378.cms

[eq24]

Wow Team BHP always continues to amaze me. I did not even expect a thread on H1B visa but it came up on Google so followed the link and here we are.

I have a query since my cousin is going through an application to a US company. There are loads of doubts and most information is difficult to contextualize in or situation. If any experts here have info, would be obliged if some answers can be obtained.

My cousin got a job with a US company(NON IT). They want him to work there starting FY15. Now they are applying the visa for him using a law firm based in the US. So except for the news we can not understand the process much.

I understand the bit about the 20000 + 65000 applications towards the cap. And this year there were 172500 total applications. So how does it work, do they not even screen the applications based on industry or sector. Do they just take the whole lot of received app's and run it through the 20000 quota first and then the 65000.
How many apps will be retained after the lottery, will it be 85000 but then it means all selected through lottery have been accepted.
How much time does it take for the whole process to unfold? When will we come to know of the decision and how does he get the visa then if the process is going on in US, will he get a call to get his PP submitted to the Embassy.

These are some of the questions we are quite helpless about, some light on the same would be appreciated.

[coolfyre]

I understand the bit about the 20000 + 65000 applications towards the cap. And this year there were 172500 total applications. So how does it work, do they not even screen the applications based on industry or sector. Do they just take the whole lot of received app's and run it through the 20000 quota first and then the 65000.
How many apps will be retained after the lottery, will it be 85000 but then it means all selected through lottery have been accepted.

After the lottery is run, all applications that are selected will be given a receipt number and the receipt number is sent to the lawyer / attorney who filed the application. In other words, if your cousin's application gets a receipt number, then it means that his application is selected. Receipt numbers are like EACXXXXXXXXXX or WACXXXXXXXXXX.
If the application is not selected, the application along with the fee will be returned.

How much time does it take for the whole process to unfold?

The normal processing time is somewhere around 2-4 months. But sometimes it may take longer.

When will we come to know of the decision and how does he get the visa then if the process is going on in US, will he get a call to get his PP submitted to the Embassy.

When a decision has been made on the application, the lawyer will be notified of the same. Once the receipt number is available, the status of the application can be tracked online here https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/Dashboard/CaseStatus.do

If the US application is approved, it means that your cousin is eligible to apply for a visa at a US embassy or consulate.
The approved documents are sent to the lawyer. The lawyer will prepare some more additional documents and send the whole set to your cousin. Then your cousin has to take an appointment with the local US embassy depending on where he lives for a face-to-face interview.
After the face-to-face interview, your cousin may be issued a visa if the visa officer is satisfied with your cousin's application.

Hope this helps.

[eq24]

Originally Posted by coolfyre

[i]

Hope this helps.

Yes tremendously. Thanks

[kaka46]

Originally Posted by coolfyre

After the lottery is run, all applications that are selected will be given a receipt number and the receipt number is sent to the lawyer / attorney who filed the application. In other words, if your cousin's application gets a receipt number, then it means that his application is selected. Receipt numbers are like EACXXXXXXXXXX or WACXXXXXXXXXX.
If the application is not selected, the application along with the fee will be returned.



The normal processing time is somewhere around 2-4 months. But sometimes it may take longer.



When a decision has been made on the application, the lawyer will be notified of the same. Once the receipt number is available, the status of the application can be tracked online here https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/Dashboard/CaseStatus.do

If the US application is approved, it means that your cousin is eligible to apply for a visa at a US embassy or consulate.
The approved documents are sent to the lawyer. The lawyer will prepare some more additional documents and send the whole set to your cousin. Then your cousin has to take an appointment with the local US embassy depending on where he lives for a face-to-face interview.
After the face-to-face interview, your cousin may be issued a visa if the visa officer is satisfied with your cousin's application.

Hope this helps.

Wish there was a thanks button. You explained it very well in a nutshell. Will help all prospective aspirants about the process right from filing through interview.

If the employee for whom the H1 is filed is from a well known company, usually the documentation is thorough and there are little or no hassles. Mentioning this based on my recent experience and a lot of friend's and colleague's who got it done.

Coming to my experience - it barely last for 30-40 seconds and the officer asked the following questions.
1)Current company
2)Client details
3)Onshore salary
4)Marital status
5)Highest educational qualification.

That's it . The whole process was hassle free and took about an hour right from waiting outside the consulate in a queue till the completion. This again depends on the rush on a given day.

Originally Posted by coolfyre

After the lottery is run, all applications that are selected will be given a receipt number and the receipt number is sent to the lawyer / attorney who filed the application. In other words, if your cousin's application gets a receipt number, then it means that his application is selected. Receipt numbers are like EACXXXXXXXXXX or WACXXXXXXXXXX.
If the application is not selected, the application along with the fee will be returned.

@Coolfyre. Thanks for a detailed explanation. I really wish there was a Thanks button, at least for your post .

I have one question for you.
Prior running lottery, i think, they will give some unique number to each application and then they run the lottery on these numbers. And i think this unique number is the receipt number.
And after lottery, they will notify all people. whose receipts were selected and whose were rejected. or Am i missing something?