Tuesday, January 29 2008
Immigration Update: Prepare Now for the April 1 H1-B Stampede
By Nancy-Jo Merritt and Matt Martinez
April 1, 2008, is the first day in which initial H-1B petitions can be filed for foreign national employees to begin work on October 1, the beginning of the U.S. Fiscal Year 2009. Last year, the quota numbers for initial non-graduate degreed H-1B workers ran out on April 1, 2007. Congress has not increased the H-1B quota limits for FY 2009, and so, as in past years, there will be 65,000 slots for new H-1Bs and 20,000 extra slots for new H-1Bs with advanced degrees from U.S. universities. Last year, there were twice as many petitions as places for new H-1Bs, resulting in the first USCIS H-1B lottery. Thus, it will be necessary to file all initial H-1B petitions for April 1 delivery. This year, April 1 falls on a Tuesday, which is likely to be the only open filing day.
USCIS received more than 150,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions on April 1, 2007. The number of applications far exceeded the number of quota slots, so the USCIS placed all cap-subject H-1B petitions received on the first two days on a computer-generated random selection process to select the lucky winners. The high volume of filings meant that USCIS needed additional time to data-entry the new applications before conducting the "lottery" a week later.
In the last few months USCIS indicated that it was exploring the possibility of conducting a pre-filing “registration lottery” for the available spaces, but it does not now expect to do so. The USCIS said that such a change would require a new regulation and that process could not be completed in time to conduct a pre-filing lottery.
This means that, as for last year, all "first time" H-1B petitions must be completed and prepared for filing on April 1.
If you have prospective or current employees who will need H-1B status in FY 2009, please notify us as soon as possible. For example, if any of your employees are F-1 students with optional practical training (OPT) work authorization expiring in the next year, those H-1B petitions must be filed on April 1 to avoid a break in work authorization. Employees in TN status also should be considered for change of status to H-1B in order to take advantage of the longer work authorization (three years instead of one year) and dual intent.
This will be a busy time for us, so please contact us as soon as possible if you have employees who will need H-1B authorization in the U.S. FY 2009, which begins October 1, 2008.
Nancy-Jo Merritt focuses her practice in immigration law and has nearly three decades of experience representing domestic and international
companies with issues concerning foreign national employees and business immigration matters. She provides strategic counseling to clients and
assists employers in developing compliance programs. She earned her B.A., (1964) M.A., (1974) and her J.D., (1978) from Arizona State University.
Matthew J. Martinez focuses his practice in the area of immigration and nationality law, with an emphasis on corporate transfers, professionals,
entrepreneurs, investors, entertainers and athletes. Mr. Martinez has extensive experience representing employers and athletes in the equine industry,
and in obtaining visas for temporary and seasonal workers. He earned his B.S., (1995) and his J.D., (1999) from Brigham Young University.
|
|
|
quick links
Phoenix
3003 N. Central Avenue
Suite 2600
Phoenix, AZ 85012
(602) 916-5000
Tucson
One S. Church Avenue
Suite 1000
Tucson, AZ 85701
(520) 879-6800
Nogales
420 W. Mariposa Road
Suite 200
Nogales, AZ 85621
(520) 281-3480
Las Vegas
300 S. Fourth Street
Suite 1400
Las Vegas, NV 89101
(702) 692-8000
Denver
1700 Lincoln Street
Suite 2930
Denver, CO 80203
(303) 291-3200
|
|
