USA HI-B VISA TO OPEN ON 1ST APRIL 2014 FOR FISCAL YEAR 2015 BUT IT WILL RUN OUT ITSELF ON 1ST APRIL 2014 SIX MONTHS BEFORE START OF YEAR AS LAST YEAR CAP WAS FILLED IN JUST FIRST WEEK AS THERE IS NO WINNER AS QUOTA IS GROSSLY INADEQUATE FOR EMPLOYERS TO HIRE BEST OF THE TALENTS 13TH JANUARY 2014 WITH the US House of Representatives showing zero initiative towards overhauling the Nation’s immigrations laws, it appears that H-1B visas for FY 2015 will run out on April 1, 2014, six months before the fiscal year even begins. Last year, the annual H-1B quota (“H-1B Cap”) was reached within the first week of the filing period, which began on April 1, 2013. On April 7, 2013, the USCIS employed a computer-generated “lottery process” to select enough petitions needed to meet the regular H-1B cap of 65,000 and the 20,000 under the advanced degree exemption or “Master’s Cap.” Notwithstanding the obvious signals to the US Congress that the current H-1B quota is grossly inadequate to meet the US economy’s need for specialty workers, the House of Representatives has done nothing to improve the situation for talent-starved companies in the US, setting the stage for another “H-1B lottery” in 2014. The only problem with this “lottery” is that there are no winners. Employers wishing to hire a foreign –born professional in a “specialty occupation” must essentially takes a risk that the time, effort and expense they incur in filing an H-1B Petition may all go for naught, as their H-1B Petition is not selected under the “random” lottery process. The problem is obvious: The annual cap of 65,000 regular H-1B visa, which was the number set by the US Congress is 1990, is grossly inadequate to accommodate the demand of US businesses, even as the US economy is steadily improving. Even with the addition of 20,000 H-1B Visas for employees who have obtained Master’s Degrees or higher in the US, the H-1B quota is still over 100,000 short of where it was in 2001, when Congress temporarily expanded the quota to 195,000. Employers seeking to hire an H-1B professional must establish that the prospective employee: (1) has a bachelor’s degree; (2) seeks to come to the United States to perform services in a position requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher for entry into the position; and that (3) the degree is directly related to the nonimmigrant’s field of endeavor. The US employer or sponsor must demonstrate a need for a worker and attest that insufficient domestic labor is available to fill the need. Of course, the US employer must also establish his ability to pay the “prevailing wage” for the position.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 03:07:21 +0000
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