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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has just updated the number of H-1B visas available for Fiscal Year 2007. As predicted in our last News Flash, the number of petitions received by the USCIS is far greater than first perceived, and the most recent announcement shows that the USCIS has approved or received enough H-1B petitions to satisfy more than half of the standard H-1B quota of 58,200. Given the current pace of usage, we urge employers to identify employees or prospective employees who will be impacted by the cap as early as possible, and take the imminent exhaustion of the FY 2007 cap into account in immigration and recruitment planning.
Given the current pace of usage, we urge employers to identify employees or prospective employees who will be impacted by the cap as early as possible, and take the imminent exhaustion of the FY 2007 cap into account in immigration and recruitment planning.
| |
Cap |
Beneficiaries Approved |
Beneficiaries Pending |
Beneficiaries Target |
Total |
Date of Last Count |
| H-1B |
58,200 |
6,033 |
28,775 |
61,000 |
34,808 |
5/12/2006 |
| H-1B Advance Degree Exemption |
20,000 |
1,392 |
3,246 |
21,000 |
4,638 |
5/12/2006 |
By way of background, current immigration law contains a "cap" of 65,000 new H-1B approvals each fiscal year, of which 6,800 are set aside for the H-1B1 visa program under the U.S.-Chile and U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreements. In addition to the standard H-1B cap availability of 58,200, the H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004 makes available 20,000 H-1B numbers for foreign workers with a master's or higher degree from a U.S. academic institution. FY 2007 begins on October 1, 2006; the USCIS began accepting H-1B petitions for FY 2007 on April 1, 2006.
Employers should keep in mind that some H-1B petitions are not subject to the cap. These include H-1B petitions for amendment or extension of status, including new employers, and requests for concurrent H-1B employment; petitions filed by exempt organizations, including institutions of higher education, nonprofit research organizations or entities related or affiliated with an institution of higher education, or a nonprofit research organization or governmental research organization; H-1B petitions for J-1 nonimmigrants who received a waiver of the two-year foreign residency requirement based on certain interested state or federal agency requests; and, H-1B petitions for beneficiaries counted against the cap within the preceding six years, unless the beneficiary is entitled to request a new six- year period.
Proskauer Rose LLP counsels corporate clients and their employees in all areas of immigration, nationality and consular law. This includes obtaining work authorizations and visas to enable companies to hire aliens or transfer personnel between nations; compliance with and defense of anti-discrimination and unlawful immigration practices; and advice and appearances in special circumstance matters such as asylum claims and removal proceedings. Much of the work involves obtaining appropriate non-immigrant or immigrant visas to enable corporations to transfer executives, managers, persons with specialized knowledge or other key personnel temporarily or permanently to the United States.
For more information contact: David Grunblatt
This News Flash is a service to our clients and friends. It is designed only to give general information on the developments actually covered. It is not intended to be a comprehensive summary of recent developments in the law, treat exhaustively the subjects covered, provide legal advice or render a legal opinion. |
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