United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has updated its count of FY2011 cap-subject and advanced degree cap-exempt H-1B petitions receipted. As of May 14, 2010, approximately 19,000 H-1B cap-subject petitions were receipted. USCIS has also receipted 8,100 H-1B petitions for aliens with advanced degrees.

USCIS has also updated its count of FY2010 cap-subject H-2B petitions receipted. As of May 12, 2010, USCIS approved 65,498 H-2B petitions out of the 66,000 allocated per fiscal year. Currently, there are 784 petitions still pending.

On May 20, 2010, the Department of State (“DOS”) published an interim final rule in the Federal Register to increase nonimmigrant visa application processing fees, also known as the Machine-Readable Visa (“MRV”) fee, and Border Crossing Card (“BCC”) fees. The interim final rule also establishes a tiered structure with separate fees for different nonimmigrant visa categories. The new fees are scheduled to go into effect on June 4, 2010.

According to DOS website, it is increasing fees to ensure sufficient resources to cover the rising cost of processing nonimmigrant visas. The fee increase applies both to nonimmigrant visas placed in passports and to border crossing cards issued to certain applicants in Mexico.

According to DOS, the new, tiered fee structure was created to cover the higher unit costs for processing certain categories of nonimmigrant visas that are more complicated and require more in-depth consideration than most other categories of nonimmigrant visas. For a number of reasons, including new security enhancements, DOS believes that the $131.00USD MRV fee set on January 1, 2008 no longer covers the current, actual cost of processing nonimmigrant visas.

As of June 4, 2010, the following MRV fees will be applicable:

1. Applicants for all visas that are not petition-based, including B-1 tourist and B-1 business visitor visas and all student (F, M) and exchange visitor (J) visas, will pay a fee of $140.00USD.
2. Applicants for petition-based visas will pay an application fee of $150.00USD. These categories include:
   • H visa for temporary workers and trainees;
   • L visa for intracompany transferees;
   • O visa for aliens with extraordinary ability;
   • P visa for athletes, artists and entertainers;
   • Q visa for international cultural exchange visitors; and
   • R visa for religious occupations.
3. The application fee for K visas for fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens (and presumably K-3 spouses of U.S. citizens) will be $350.00USD.
4. The fee for E visas for treaty-traders and treaty-investors will be $390.00USD.

On May 20, 2010, Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the elimination of the paper arrival/departure form (“Form I-94W”) for authorized travelers from nations participating in the Visa Waiver Program Program (“VWP”)—streamlining secure travel for millions of visitors to the United States every year by consolidating the collection of traveler information and enhancing security by automatically providing DHS with important passenger information prior to departure.

“The Visa Waiver Program facilitates secure and hassle-free travel for citizens of participating countries—making international travel safer and easier,” said Secretary Napolitano. “This step to eliminate the paper I-94W leverages the latest technology to further bolster security, increase convenience for visitors and better protect privacy.”

Following a successful seven-month pilot program conducted with the support of the Government of New Zealand on Air New Zealand flights from Auckland to Los Angeles International Airport, the use of paper I-94W forms will be eliminated for VWP travelers with an approved Electronic System for Travel Authorization (“ESTA”) arriving in the United States at all airports by the end of this summer. United States Customs & Border Protection (“CBP”) will activate automated processing for U.S. airports on a rolling basis over the next several months.

Under the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007, applying for an ESTA became mandatory on January 12, 2009, for all nationals of VWP countries prior to boarding a carrier to travel by air or sea to the United States. This requirement does not affect U.S. citizens returning from overseas or citizens of VWP countries traveling on a valid U.S. visa, and allows DHS to determine whether a VWP traveler presents a threat long before the individual boards a U.S.-bound aircraft.

The elimination of the paper I-94W form enables travelers to provide basic biographical, travel and eligibility information automatically through ESTA prior to departure for the United States —reducing redundancy and enhancing the security of sensitive personal information, as CBP stores and protects all VWP data electronically on secure servers.

CBP recommends that travelers submit ESTA applications as soon as an applicant begins making travel plans. ESTA applications may be submitted at any time prior to travel, and once approved, will be valid for two years or until the applicant’s passport expires. To date, CBP has received more than 19 million ESTA applications from citizens of VWP countries—applications that will now automatically cover I-94W submission.

VWP—established as a pilot program in 1986 to help facilitate travel and made permanent in 2000—currently enables the nationals of 36 participating countries to travel to the United States for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa.