H-1B cap cases denied because of digital signatures? All you need to know
Some immigration law offices that deal with H-1B petitions have raised an alert that they are seeing denials of benefit requests over the validity of signatures. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services intensified their scrutiny of signature compliance in H-1B petitions, they said, which led to a growing number of Notices of Intent to Deny (NOIDs).
Going by the rule, all signatures on Form I-129 forms must be valid handwritten signatures and not electronically inserted or duplicated.
What's creating the confusion?
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the USCIS allowed electronically reproduced signatures but now they are canceling forms that do not have handwritten inked signatures or a valid reproduction of the original.
"In recent adjudications, USCIS identified multiple I-129 petitions in which all required signatures appeared identical across pages, suggesting the use of a scanned image or digital copy.
USCIS emphasized that such uniformity is inconsistent with the natural variation of genuine ink signatures and determined these signatures were not compliant with applicable regulations and instructions. The agency concluded that the petitions had not been properly signed and therefore could not be adjudicated favorably," Law office of Thomas V Allen said.
The law office said that in one case, the USCIS noted that all three signatures required on Form I-129 were identical, indicating that it was a digital signature. In another case, USCIS rejected newly submitted signature pages where the ink signatures did not match or could not be verified as originating from the original submission.
Steps to avoid rejections
A valid signature must be handwritten by the signatory.
A A photocopy or scanned copy of a document containing an original ink signature is acceptable, as long as the original document was physically signed.
Signatures created by a typewriter, word processor, auto-pen, or pasted as images do not satisfy the requirement.
USCIS does not provide an opportunity to cure or correct a deficient signature once filed leading to outright denial of such petitions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economic Times
10 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Google finds workaround for lobbying that omits big bosses
AP It was the end of 2018, and Google's leaders were tired of being Number One. For the second year in a row, federal records showed the search giant had spent more than any other individual company on lobbying in Washington. Executives in Mountain View were sick of seeing that mentioned in the press, according to a former Google employee who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations. Then Google apparently found a workaround. A new analysis of federal lobbying data by the nonprofit Tech Transparency Project shows that Google and its parent company, Alphabet Inc., used an internal reorganisation to exclude the value of lobbying by its senior executives from disclosures. The move helped keep Google off the top of the lobbying charts even as it maintained a robust network of advocates pushing its interests in the capital, during federal challenges to its dominance in search and advertising and the beginnings of artificial intelligence regulation. The findings, which were confirmed by a Bloomberg analysis of lobbying records, show that the effect of the accounting change was to lower the amount that Google reported spending to influence the federal government, likely by millions of dollars. The reorganization 'has allowed the company to shield a significant portion of its lobbying expenditures from public view,' the Tech Transparency Project said in its report.A Google spokesperson, José Castañeda, disputed the report and said the company has followed all relevant disclosure laws.'These are inaccurate claims about a technical change that simply brought us in line with how many other companies report their lobbying activities,' he said. 'Our lobbying expenditures began decreasing in 2018, after we restructured our government affairs team and cut spending on consultants.' Internal reshuffle Starting in 2019, Google began cutting ties with some of its external lobbying firms, a move it acknowledged publicly as part of an overhaul of its Washington the shuffling of external lobbying firms doesn't explain the whole of the decline in Google's reported lobbying expenses, which fell from more than $22 million in 2018 to $8.9 million in the Covid-disrupted year of 2020, and have subsequently remained well below pre-pandemic levels. There's been another, quieter change: in early 2020, Google moved its in-house lobbyists into a new subsidiary, called Google Client Services LLC. It's that unit which now files spending disclosures for Google's lobbying activities. The reorganization meant that the parent companies Google and Alphabet no longer directly employed any lobbyists – defined under federal disclosure law as people spending at least 20% of their time on influencing Congress or the executive branch. Companies that file lobbying disclosure reports are supposed to also account for the time that other senior executives — those who don't meet the 20% threshold – devote to lobbying, according to legal experts and the compliance guide for the Lobbying Disclosure Act published by Congressional leaders. That generally involves prorating their annual compensation to account for the days they spend influencing the government. But since Google moved lobbyists into the Google Client Services subsidiary, the parent company no longer meets the threshold for filing disclosures under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, according to the TTP analysis. That means Google no longer reports the lobbying expenses of high-ranking managers who aren't part of the Client Services unit — like Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai and chief legal officer Kent Walker — to the public, as it once did. As a result, in 2020 Google dropped out of the top 20 in corporate lobbying expenses for the first time in nearly a decade, the TTP analysis Google's reported annual spending has since edged back up again, it hasn't come close to the No.1 slot in the company lobbying rankings that it used to occupy. For the past five years, that position has alternated between two other tech giants: Meta Platforms Inc. and Inc. Antitrust challenge There's been plenty going on in Washington over the period that was crucial for Google's business. For one thing, the company — like many peers — is betting heavily on AI, a field where decisions in the US capital will shape the commercial has also been under assault from antitrust authorities over its dominance in search and digital advertising. The company has maintained in those lawsuits that its success is down to consumer choice and superior innovation, rather than a result of its power to shape laws and regulations. Publicity around its lobbying spending has the potential to undercut such arguments and alienate executives are as highly paid as many in Silicon Valley, the prorated amounts can add up to millions — even for just a few days' worth of lobbying. Google reported total compensation for Pichai of more than $225 million in 2022, thanks to grants of stock. His total compensation was $10.7 million in 2024. Walker's total compensation was more than $30 million last year, the company say the new structure Google is employing flouts the spirit of the federal disclosure law – if not the letter itself. 'This is just too cute by half,' said William Luneburg, a professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and the co-editor of the manual for lobbying compliance published by the American Bar Association. 'On the face of it, it's wrong,' he said. 'They have to report all of their expenses, which would include the time of officers and directors and other employees that spend their time engaging in lobbying activity.''We always comply with disclosure laws and any suggestion of improper reporting is false,' said Castañeda, the Google said it examined lobbying disclosures of several other companies that filed reports via a similar subsidiary model, but didn't find any that had used the structure to remove executive lobbying from their disclosures. Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. Tariffs, tantrums, and tech: How Trump's trade drama is keeping Indian IT on tenterhooks Good, bad, ugly: How will higher ethanol in petrol play out for you? As big fat Indian wedding slims to budget, Manyavar loses lustre As 50% US tariff looms, 6 key steps that can safeguard Indian economy Stock Radar: JSPL forms Ascending Triangle pattern on weekly charts, could hit fresh 52-week high soon Nifty and business are different species: 5 small-cap stocks from different sectors with upside potential of up to 30% F&O Radar | Deploy Bear Put Spread in Nifty to play index's negative stance amid volatility Wealth creation: Look beyond the obvious in some things; 10 fertilizer sector companies worth watching
Time of India
10 minutes ago
- Time of India
Google finds workaround for lobbying that omits big bosses
It was the end of 2018, and Google 's leaders were tired of being Number the second year in a row, federal records showed the search giant had spent more than any other individual company on lobbying in Washington. Executives in Mountain View were sick of seeing that mentioned in the press, according to a former Google employee who asked not to be identified discussing private Google apparently found a workaround.A new analysis of federal lobbying data by the nonprofit Tech Transparency Project shows that Google and its parent company, Alphabet Inc., used an internal reorganisation to exclude the value of lobbying by its senior executives from move helped keep Google off the top of the lobbying charts even as it maintained a robust network of advocates pushing its interests in the capital, during federal challenges to its dominance in search and advertising and the beginnings of artificial intelligence findings, which were confirmed by a Bloomberg analysis of lobbying records, show that the effect of the accounting change was to lower the amount that Google reported spending to influence the federal government, likely by millions of reorganization 'has allowed the company to shield a significant portion of its lobbying expenditures from public view,' the Tech Transparency Project said in its report.A Google spokesperson, José Castañeda, disputed the report and said the company has followed all relevant disclosure laws.'These are inaccurate claims about a technical change that simply brought us in line with how many other companies report their lobbying activities,' he said. 'Our lobbying expenditures began decreasing in 2018, after we restructured our government affairs team and cut spending on consultants.'Starting in 2019, Google began cutting ties with some of its external lobbying firms, a move it acknowledged publicly as part of an overhaul of its Washington the shuffling of external lobbying firms doesn't explain the whole of the decline in Google's reported lobbying expenses, which fell from more than $22 million in 2018 to $8.9 million in the Covid-disrupted year of 2020, and have subsequently remained well below pre-pandemic been another, quieter change: in early 2020, Google moved its in-house lobbyists into a new subsidiary, called Google Client Services LLC. It's that unit which now files spending disclosures for Google's lobbying reorganization meant that the parent companies Google and Alphabet no longer directly employed any lobbyists – defined under federal disclosure law as people spending at least 20% of their time on influencing Congress or the executive that file lobbying disclosure reports are supposed to also account for the time that other senior executives — those who don't meet the 20% threshold – devote to lobbying, according to legal experts and the compliance guide for the Lobbying Disclosure Act published by Congressional leaders. That generally involves prorating their annual compensation to account for the days they spend influencing the since Google moved lobbyists into the Google Client Services subsidiary, the parent company no longer meets the threshold for filing disclosures under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, according to the TTP analysis. That means Google no longer reports the lobbying expenses of high-ranking managers who aren't part of the Client Services unit — like Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai and chief legal officer Kent Walker — to the public, as it once a result, in 2020 Google dropped out of the top 20 in corporate lobbying expenses for the first time in nearly a decade, the TTP analysis Google's reported annual spending has since edged back up again, it hasn't come close to the No.1 slot in the company lobbying rankings that it used to occupy. For the past five years, that position has alternated between two other tech giants: Meta Platforms Inc. and been plenty going on in Washington over the period that was crucial for Google's business. For one thing, the company — like many peers — is betting heavily on AI, a field where decisions in the US capital will shape the commercial has also been under assault from antitrust authorities over its dominance in search and digital advertising. The company has maintained in those lawsuits that its success is down to consumer choice and superior innovation, rather than a result of its power to shape laws and regulations. Publicity around its lobbying spending has the potential to undercut such arguments and alienate executives are as highly paid as many in Silicon Valley, the prorated amounts can add up to millions — even for just a few days' worth of lobbying. Google reported total compensation for Pichai of more than $225 million in 2022, thanks to grants of stock. His total compensation was $10.7 million in 2024. Walker's total compensation was more than $30 million last year, the company say the new structure Google is employing flouts the spirit of the federal disclosure law – if not the letter itself.'This is just too cute by half,' said William Luneburg, a professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law , and the co-editor of the manual for lobbying compliance published by the American Bar Association.'On the face of it, it's wrong,' he said. 'They have to report all of their expenses, which would include the time of officers and directors and other employees that spend their time engaging in lobbying activity.''We always comply with disclosure laws and any suggestion of improper reporting is false,' said Castañeda, the Google said it examined lobbying disclosures of several other companies that filed reports via a similar subsidiary model, but didn't find any that had used the structure to remove executive lobbying from their disclosures.
Time of India
31 minutes ago
- Time of India
US labour market data: Applications for jobless claims dip slightly; range below economists' forecast
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits edged down last week, remaining within historically low levels they've held since the economy clawed its way back from the COVID-19 slump. According to the Labour Department, applications for jobless claims for the week ending August 9 fell by 3,000 to 224,000. It was below the economists' forecast of 230,000, according to AP reports. Weekly claims, a key indicator of layoffs, have largely stayed between 200,000 and 250,000 since the economy rebounded from the COVID-19 shock in 2020. The jobless benefits report showed that the four-week average of jobless claims inched up by 750 to 221,750, while the number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week ending August 2 dropped by 15,000 to 1.95 million. The latest data comes amid heightened political drama over the state of the US labor market. Two weeks ago, a disappointing July jobs report, showing only 73,000 jobs added, far below the 115,000 expected, triggered a sharp market sell-off. Revisions to May and June erased another 258,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%. In response, US President Donald Trump fired Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) chief Erika McEntarfer, accusing her without evidence of manipulating the data. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Indonesia: Unsold Sofas at Bargain Prices (Prices May Surprise You) Sofas | Search Ads Search Now Undo He has since nominated E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, to lead the agency. The BLS does not produce the weekly jobless claims report, AP reported. Beyond the political shake-up, the numbers suggest a more challenging job market. Job openings fell to 7.4 million in June from 7.7 million in May, and the quits rate a gauge of worker confidence, dropped to its lowest since December. Major employers including Microsoft, Google, Meta, Starbucks, CNN, Intel, and Disney have all announced job cuts this year. Economists say the slowdown is being fueled partly by uncertainty over Trump's trade policies, as his staggered tariffs on US trading partners have weighed on business expansion plans. Adding to the pressure, the new government data released on Thursday showed that US wholesale inflation jumped unexpectedly last month, signaling that the import taxes are driving costs higher. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays , public holidays , current gold rate and silver price .
