The H-1B Visa cap of 65000 petitions annually has not yet been reached according to the USCIS. Therefore applicants wishing to work in the US under speciality occupations still can file their H-1B Petitions this year. This is good news. Just two years ago before the downturn in the economy, the H-1B Visa cap was filled very close to the April 1 start date.

According to the USCIS, 13500 H-1B Visa Petitions have so far been received. Therefore based on the numbers, there should be enough spaces for the next few months. This means that if you want to still get in for a 2010 start date for work in the US, it would be a good idea to file your H-1B Visa as soon as possible.

H-1B visas are usually for applicants with completed university degrees with job offers in the US under certain specialty occupations (jobs that require a university degree). However, there are some exceptions to this requirement. For applicants without university degrees, if their occupational experience and education can be shown to be otherwise equivalent to a degree, they may be approved for the H-1B Visa.

For more information about H-1B Visas go here and here or contact us at 416 410 7484 or email us at info@visaplace.com

USCIS Accepting H-1B Visas April 1

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin accepting H-1B Visa petitions filed on the behalf of foreign workers by their employers that are subject to the cap for the fiscal year of 2011 on April 1, 2010.

The H-1B Visa is a work permit for the United States that allows people from foreign countries to work in occupations that require a higher level of skill or education than other occupations.

People who qualify for an H-1B Visa in the United States are normally applying for a position that requires them to have a bachelor’s degree or higher, and they must have a job offer from a United States employer already in place that offers the “prevailing” or median wage for the area in which they will be working.

H-1B Visa Cap of 65,000

The limit is 65,000, although the first 20,000 who are filed for people with a master’s degree or higher obtained within the United States are exempt from the limit. People who are also exempt from the cap include those who will be working at government research organizations, nonprofit research organizations or institutions of higher learning.

It’s especially important  ensure that all of the information on the H-1B petition is in order, because the USCIS will not consider a petition to be acceptable based on the date received as determined only by the postmark. They will only consider a petition to be “accepted” on the date that they receive it properly filled out and only if it has the appropriate fee included.

Wow. What a turn of events! In the not so distant past, the annual cap on H-1B Petitions was significantly reduced. US employers were finding it increasingly difficult to hire foreign workers and often had to rush their applications in to meet the quota. Now, with the downturn in the economy and the US approaching 10% unemployment,  the demand for foreign workers have subsided. As a result, the shrunken quota as of the date of this blog, has not been met and we are approaching the end of the year.

The window is therefore still open for foreign workers and their US employers. However, due to prohibitive processing delays associated with H-1B Petitions especially with the new iCERT system from the Department of Labor, frustration levels still remain high. The USCIS has responded by now accepting H-1Bs without DOL Approved LCA for a 120 day period staring from November 5, 2009 until March 4, 2010.

While the Petitioner (US Employer) has to file the LCA with the DOL, the USCIS will accept unapproved LCAs if filed within at least 7 calandar days after the LCAs  were filed with the DOL

The bottom line here is that Petitioners can take advantage of expedited H-1B processing during this 4 month grace period. Every cloud has a silver lining.

As of April 2009, the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program has introduced a US Visa Holder Category focused on H-1B Visa holders. This immigration program enables skilled foreign workers on US Work Visas to apply for Canadian Permanent Residence with the intention of working in Alberta. This program is designed fill occupational shortages in certain high priority employment sectors in Alberta. The US Visa Holder Category is a fast track application process resulting in Canadian Permanent Residence.

In order to qualify for the US Visa Holder Category, the following has to be met:

For more information on the Alberta US Visa Holders Category contact Niren and Associates Immigration Lawyers at 416 410 7484 or email us at info@visaplace.com

The Metro had an interesting article today about the H1-B visa and it’s dependant accompanying visa, the “dreaded” H-4.

The article discusses the difficulties of Samvita Padukone,  a pregnant H-4 visa holder, and her husband Sanjay Mavinkurve, an H1-B visa holder and Google engineer.

They are currently residing part time in Canada, attempting to fight the law which does not allow the dependants of H1-B visa holders to gain employment in the United States. Sanjay feels he does not have the right to ask his wife to stay at home while he works because of a rule they find unfair. The US only grants a limited amount of H1-B visas and have recently reduced the amount further and added constraints on companies who wish to employ foreign professionals as opposed to American workers.

At the moment they are awaiting the approval of their green card so that Sanjay may return to work in the United States, but the longer the wait, the more inclined they are to stay in Toronto, says the couple.

Should dependants of H1-B visa holders be allowed to work? Should there be limitations on the employment they may gain?

To insure you’re aware of all of your rights and the laws related to the visa you wish to gain, it is important to speak with an experienced lawyer on the matter. It may save you thousands of dollars and years of your time.

Though not at all surprising from the perspective of Immigration lawyers, in a recent article in the Washington Post a senior research associate at Harvard Law School and executive in residence at Duke University indicates that, if not the government, at least the residents of the United States are understanding the importance of a diverse immigrant population.

The Washington Post article cited quite astounding statistics relating to just how much of a significant part of the US economy comprise of immigrants.

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