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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on May 18th, 2009, that the H-1B nonimmigrant cap for fiscal year 2010 has not been reached.
By: Russell Lawson. This was posted Thursday, May 21st, 2009
Loading ...What is a H-1B nonimmigrant visa?
Pursuant to INA §101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b), the H-1B nonimmigrant visa allows U.S. employers to temporarily (up to six years) employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. The regulations define a “specialty occupation” as requiring theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge in a field of human endeavor and requiring the attainment of a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent as a minimum.
What is the H-1B nonimmigrant visa cap?
Current U.S. law limits the number of aliens who may be issued an H-1B visa to 65,000. In addition, excluded from the cap are all H-1B non-immigrants who work at universities and non-profit research facilities. Laws also exempt up to 20,000 foreign nationals holding a master’s or higher degree from U.S. universities from the cap on H-1B visas. Visa extensions do not count towards the annual limits.
How long will it take for the cap to be met?
In recent years, the H-1B non-masters cap has been met on April 1, the first possible day to file such petitions. This drastic change is most likely attributed to two things: (1) current economic conditions affecting company growth and staffing and (2) the tightened rules on filing H-1B petitions for companies who have received TARP funding. Should USCIS receive the necessary number of petitions to meet the respective caps, it will issue an update to advise the public that, as of a certain date (the “final receipt date”), the respective FY 2010 H-1B caps have been met. This provides a small (and possibly very short) window to file additional H-1B petitions.
If your company is considering hiring an H-1B foreign worker, please contact our offices as soon as possible.
