Still, despite the poor economy, this year’s H-1b visa cap was reached just 2 months into the fiscal year.  Should the government be the one who limits American companies from gaining needed skilled workers?  Or should those American companies be the ones dictating when they have hired enough skilled workers?

Now, for the next several months, American companies seeking to bring talented workers into the US must find alternatives to the H-1B visa.

Unfortunately, the report does not bother to look too deeply into the reasons for the disparities.  The disparities could very easily be due to legitmate reasons. For example, H-1B visa holders are capable of switching employers within H-1B status, are capable of obtaining other immigration classifications that allow them to work for other employers, and are not required to have their salary come from an American employer.  Additionally, what is to say that the petitioning employer didn’t change their employer tax identification number, or otherwise modify their business entity.  All of these examples provide legitimate reasons for the disparities – yet the report didn’t bother to examine these possibilities.

Although research should be done into fraudulent H-1B petitions, it would have been prudent to do a bit more research before releasing the report.  The SSA needs to know there is a fire before yelling it out loud.

To the surprise of many – the H-1B Visa does not provide permanent residency in the United States.  With limited exceptions, the H-1B visa is temporary and a person can have H-1B status for a maximum of six years.  In fact, an initial H-1B visa is only valid for a maximum of three years.  After those three years, an H-1B status holder must reapply for the status.  Further, the H-1B only allows for the visa holder to only work for the petitioning company.  To work otherwise would be a violation of H-1B status.

If you are confused about the H-1B visa and want to learn more, please contact an H-1B Visa Lawyer for more details.

It is updated annually.

Until recently, this date was very important for H-1B visa applicants.  The United States has an annual quota of 65,000 H-1B visas that are available each year.  Up until a few years ago, this quota was reached within a few days of the April 1st start date.  However, due to the economic downturn, in recent years the quota level has not been reached until January or February.

If you are an H-1B employer or a prospective H-1B employee, please contact Gafner Law Firm to better understand your immigration options.

Each year, the USCIS makes 65,000 H-1B visas (and an additional 20,000 Masters Degree H-1b visas) available to companies who need to hire specialized occupation workers.  However, each year these visas are insufficient and there are more companies seeking the visas than the number of available visas.  Thus many companies incur costs only to learn afterward that they simply were too late in applying for a visa.  It is important to note that only some H-1B seekers are subject to the cap.

Although this change is a significant improvement from the current system, it is not difficult to realize that the limitation on H-1Bs is simply unfortunate and is limiting America’s economic growth.  Additionally, it is questionable that the United States needs to resort to a lottery to decide which companies get H-1B visas.  If the United States really wanted to improve its economic position, it would either increase the number of H-1B visas allowed, or would give H-1B visas to the most beneficial companies and positions.

To learn more able the process, please contact a H-1B visa lawyer.

Now, it is required that all I-129 form petitioners certify that the employment of the noncitizen will not violate export control law.

The I-129 form is required to be completed when an employer seeks to hire a worker requiring a H-1B, L-1 or O-1 visa.  It is possible for an employer to violate the export control law by providing a noncitizen with access to knowledge that is sensitive to the United States’ interests.  If you are seeking to employ a noncitizen worker and need to complete an I-129 form, please contact an immigration attorney to ensure your company’s compliance with export control laws.

A Government Accountability Office report states that the current H-1B program requires changes to “minimize the risks and cost of the current program.”

A second report has been written by the National Foundation for American Policy and contends that the recently added fees for certain H-1B employers violates international law.