H-1b Quota Changes

[Гость Magister®]

H-1B QUOTA CHANGES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004

The 1990 amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act restricted the number of H-1B visas granted at 65,000 per fiscal year. However, on October 17, 2000, the President of the United States signed the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act to raise the cap on the number of H-1B visas, which may be issued each government fiscal year. The cap was increased to 195,000 per year for Fiscal Years 2001, 2002, and 2003. The cap will revert to 65,000 in fiscal year 2004 (starting October 1, 2003), unless Congress votes to raise it.

That is the bad news.

The good news is that effective October 1, 2003, the $1,000 H-1B filing fee will no longer be required, unless of course, Congress passes a new law reintroducing the fee.

Not applicable towards the H-1B cap are applications for H-1B visas for employees of higher educational institutions, their related or affiliated nonprofit entities. Also exempt are petitions by nonprofit research organizations or governmental research organizations. Also exempted are physicians who seek

H-1B status to work in a medically underserved area under the J-1 Conrad 20 State Waiver program. H-1B workers who have been counted once towards the numerical limit, and are the beneficiary of multiple petitions are also exempted from the H-1B cap. An H-1B employee changing from an exempt to a nonexempt employer will be counted towards the cap in the year in which the change occurs.

In light of the above drastic reductions in H-1B visa number availability during the upcoming fiscal year, coupled with the fee reductions, it is highly recommended that employers and prospective H-1B workers commence processing of their H-1B visa petitions as early as possible. Due to extensive backlogs at the USCIS, coupled with heavy Premium Processing usage by large corporate employers, H-1B processing could prove to be a major pitfall for the latecomer.