Surge in General Category a help to Advanced degree ?

Will the surge in applications in the general category due the various factors including the application from students with masters degrees obtained in the United States that do not qualify as Instituted of Higher education as defined in section 101(s) of the HE Act of 1965

Institutions of higher education, as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. 1001(a);

Under the definition, an institution of higher education is one which: 

• admits students who have completed secondary education; 
• is licensed to provide education beyond secondary school; 
• provides educational programs for which the institutions award bachelors’ degrees or provide programs of not less than 2 years that are acceptable for full credit toward bachelors’ degrees; 
• is a public or nonprofit institution; and 
• is accredited or has been granted pre-accreditation status by a recognized accrediting agency 

It is tough to interpret in complete detail but it appears as if the only combinations that is clearly difficult to qualify is (private+forprofit).

I think this would probably mean that their might either be a) no over subscription of the Advanced degree quota or b) greater hit ratio if it goes to the lottery because of a lesser pool.

Matthew Oh about USCIS seeking OMB Approval for Reform EB-1B Outstanding Researcher/Teacher Immigrant Petitions

The portion of the proposed rule addressing the evidentiary requirements for the EB-1 outstanding professor and researcher employment-based immigrant classification would allow for the submission of comparable evidence (achievements not listed in the criteria such as important patents or prestigious, peer-reviewed funding grants) for that listed in 8 CFR 204.5(i)(3)(i)(A) through (F) to establish that the EB-1 professor or researcher is recognized internationally as outstanding in his or her academic field. Similar to the benefits of harmonizing E-3, H-1B1, and CW-1 provisions, the harmonization of the evidentiary requirements for EB-1 outstanding professors and researchers with other comparable employment-based immigrant classifications would provide equity for EB-1 outstanding professors and researchers relative to those other employment-based visa categories. The proposed rule may also facilitate petitioners' recruitment of the EB-1 outstanding professors and researchers by expanding the range of evidence that may be adduced to support their petitions.

redbus2us.com

http://redbus2us.com/h1b-visa-sponsors/

A searchable database created by www.redbus2us.com.

The site has very valuable information for potential petitioners and provides very rational analysis on various topics of immigration.

University Qualification Issues for Masters CAP Exemption -

According to a notice issued by the Peddibhotla Law firm (Link ot article) there is a burgeoning issue that has recently arisen out of the California Service Centers which has broad implications for  foreign nationals that were previously “counted” in the “US Master’s Cap Exemption.” Specifically, the US Master’s Cap Exemption only applies U.S. Institutions of Higher Education as defined by 20 U.S.C. 1001(a). In relevant part, among other criteria, the school:

- Must be authorized by a State to provide post-secondary education; and
- Must be a public or other nonprofit institution; and
- Must be accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association recognized accrediting agency or association.

Keep in mind that even though your school is nationally or regionally accredited it should still be a not for profit/nonprofit institution.
 

Imminent Lottery

Early predictions of the FY 2015 from various sources experts indicate indicate an imminent lottery with a minimum oversubscription of 30-40 thousand in the general category and 5 to 10 thousand in the advanced degree quota.

Understanding the FIVE DAY WINDOW - FY 2015

All petitions are to be physically received by the USCIS during this five day window to be eligible for the FY 2015 lottery. This strictly means that any petitions received earlier that April 1st, 2014 (Tuesday) or after April 7th, 2014 (Monday) will be rejected without any sort of consideration. USCIS has received about 124,000 petitions for a total of 85,000 visas last year for FY 2014.  A majority of residual 39,000 applicants, who were not selected in H1B 2014 lottery shall be potential applicants for FY 2015 quota. This is in addition to the Masters students studying in for-profit schools that are under scrutiny and shall be rendered ineligible if they applied in t Masters quota - forcing them to apply in the general category. In summary - it is imperative that adequate planning and timing are mandatory to ensure you meet the window with the right documentation.
 

Thesis and OPT Extension.

 Effective October 6, 2013 - students who only have the thesis or equivalent remaining in the STEM degree may either apply for pre-completion OPT , post-completion OPT while completing the thesis/dissertation and if they are **NOT** done with the thesis /dissertation during the 1 year post completion OPT they can still **go ahead** an apply for the 17 month extension. However - as is always the case the time period utilized in the pre-completion OPT will be reduced from the 1 year post completion OPT.

Extended Eligibility for OPT Extensions

Highly Possible in 2014: USCIS is potentially going to enable F-1 nonimmigrant students who complete a 1 year (OPT) to qualify for the 17-month extension based on either a prior STEM degree or the most recent degree granted if it in a STEM area. This means that if one has previously a STEM degree but currently in non-STEM degree OPT (1year) will be able to extend to the 17-month STEM OPT. This is in addition to the inclusion of fields such as Veterinary Sciences, Pharmaceutical Science, Economics and Behavioural Sciences to the expanded list of STEM qualifed degrees. The complete list is available at http://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/stem-list.pdf

This means that if your most recent degree is Business Administration and you are on an 1 year OPT as it is not in the STEM list but your previous F-1 based American degree is "Live Stock Management" or "Poultry Science" you get an 17 month extension :). On a serious note this is very helpful for people with a Economics, Agriculture or Pharmacy background from their home country who continue in the same area after arriving to the US but did not previously qualify for the STEM extension.

However there is little or no clarity on what are your 17 month extension prospects of Degree #2 in an non-STEM area if you have already utlized a 1year+17 month extension on your STEM qualified degree prior to enrolling into the second degree. This shall be more clear in the coming months.

Movement: China in comparision with India

 #greendream EB3 China in February 2013 was Feb 2006 after 1 year it is June 2012 in the latest bulletin = 6 years of movement in 1 calendar year - impressive to say the least. In contrast India has moved from Nov 02 - Sep 03 = ~ 1 year - pretty standard movement - except that it is 11 years behind. I am sure that at some point it will start to move like it did for China and the backlog will be eliminated in a two-year period.

In the last one year, EB2 China has made a net progress of 1 year from Jan 08 to Jan 09. EB2 India has advanced and retrogressed as it always does from Sep 04 - Nov 04 = a net of ~ 2 months. In my opinion, the magic bulletin for EB2 India will be May 2014.

March 2014 - VISA Bulletin

March 2014: EB2 India is stagnant at 15 November 04. EB3 India has moved 15 calendar days to 15 September 03. The movement of 0 to 15 day per bulletin for EB3 while good is expected to get better very soon according to various expert accounts. As already suggested by Mr. Oppenhiemer, aspirants should not expect any significant change the next 3 bulletins for EB2.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/23/technology/social/fwdus-immigration-app/