April 10, 2007
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, formerly INS) began accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year 2008 H-1B cap on Monday, April 2, 2007. On April 3, USCIS announced that it received more applications than the 65,000 limit on April 2 (April 2 was the first day on which an employer could request a first-time visa for an H-1B worker for the period that begins on October 1, 2007). Agency rules state that if the limit is reached on the first day of filing, all applications received on the first two days are put into a lottery to determine who gets the relatively few visas that are available. In the fiscal year now in effect, the supply of H-1B visas lasted less than eight weeks after the filing period opened. For the fiscal year that starts October 1, 2007, the supply did not last through even the first day. The application window becomes shorter and shorter each year to the point that it is now practically non-existent. The H-1B visa program is utilized by U.S. businesses and other organizations to augment the existing labor force with foreign workers in specialty occupations that require expertise in a specialized field. Typical H-1B occupations include scientists, architects, engineers, computer programmers, teachers, accountants, and doctors. Employers who seek to hire these high-skilled foreign workers must file on the first filing date or risk losing that worker. This year, employers are not guaranteed a visa even if they have taken all of the precautions and filed a visa on the first possible date. If you have questions relating to the information contained in this Legal Alert, please contact Karlee Bolanos at (585) 419-8742 or the Harris Beach attorney with whom you usually work. This Legal Alert provides a brief analysis or comments on matters related to Immigration Law. This alert does not purport to be a substitute for advice of counsel on specific matters. Harris Beach has offices throughout New York state in Albany, Buffalo, Geneseo, Ithaca, New York City, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers, as well as Newark, New Jersey.
|
