H-1B Temporary Work Visas – USCIS begins accepting applications on April 1, 2007!

H-1B visas for 2007 were all taken by July of 2006. This year, it is expected that the H-1B work visas for 2008 will be exhausted by late June 2007. Therefore, immigration experts advise early preparation and filing. The USCIS will begin accepting H-1B visas on April 1, 2007 for the new 2008 fiscal year, which begins on Oct 1, 2007. This means that you should start preparing no later than late February for the early April filing. But remember if you are applying for an H-1B and your I-94 will expire before Oct 1, 2007, your H-1B approval will be for pick it up at a U.S. consulate in your home country. With time getting so close, those of you who’s I-94’s are expiring may want to consider apply for F-1 student visas to fill the gap between now and Oct 1, 2007.

For background, the H-1B visa is the most common type of employment-based work visa. To qualify, the foreign national must have at least a Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent (12 yrs or more in a professional capacity) and must be sponsored by a U.S. company who is offering the foreign national a job which requires at least a Bachelor’s Degree. The H-1B is issued for three years and can be extended for another three years. Normally, soon after obtaining the visa, foreign nationals begin the road to obtaining U.S. Residency (Green Card) through the Labor Certification process, now called PERM. Once the PERM is approved, if the foreign national possesses a Master’s degree and the job offered requires it, he or she (and dependant family members) can immediately file for U.S. Residency and obtain the Green Card in approx 8 –18 months. If the foreign national possesses a Bachelors degree, the I-140 Immigrant Visa is filed and there is a wait until a visa becomes available.

In recent years, the number of H-1B work visas has been reduced from a high of 195,000 to the current low of 65,000. This has produced a critical situation with regard to the demand for H-1B visas, versus the availability of them. The result has been that the yearly 65,000 visas are used (exhausted) in the first four to five months after the USCIS begins accepting applications. The USCIS year runs from Oct 1 to Sept. 30^th. New H-1B visas are released each year with start dates on Oct 1 of each year. However, the USCIS begins accepting applications on the April 1, before each Oct 1 year.

What this means for applicants is that generally, after July of each year, there are no visas available for the fiscal year which runs from Oct 1 to Sept 30 of the next year. Therefore, the only option is to wait until the USCIS begins accepting H-1B applications on April 1 of the following year. This can have devastating effects for applicants who’s I-94 cards are expiring or when OPT is ending. Please Note: The USCIS provides 20,000 additional H-1B visas to individuals with Advanced degrees (Master’s or above) from U.S. universities.

IMMIGRATION QUESTIONS

Question: I have a question about an I-130 that my father filed for me. I’m single, currently on a student visa. My father filed the I-130 for me in March 2004. When I check the status online, it says the case was approved. But I haven’t received instructions on what to do next. The online status says the following after I type in my receipt number:

Application Type: I130, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN

Current Status: Approval notice sent.

On February 2, 2007, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN. Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service.

Does this mean that my application has already been approved and if so, what do I do now?

Answer: The online status message means that the I-130 application was approved. For individuals who are immediate relatives of US citizens (spouses, parents and minor children under 21), processing can proceed for the green card.

If an individual has any other kind of family case (i.e. adult child over age 21 of a U.S. citizen, spouse or child or a permanent resident or sibling of a U.S. citizen), then those individuals are subject to waiting for a visa to be available in visa category corresponding to the family relationship. The monthly report of visa availability is published in the Visa Bulletin at travel.state.gov.

For your case, as the adult, single child of a U.S. citizen, you are in the 1^st Preference Category. Right now in this category, visas are available for individuals whose parents filed I-130’s for them on or before May 01, 2001. Your I-130 was filed March of 2004. This means that you have to wait at least another three years for a visa to be available so that you can file your Residency (Green Card) application. You must also continue to maintain legal status in the U.S. if you intend to stay and wait for the visa in the U.S.