Builders and Contractors Exchange
Weekly Bulletin: 14 Nov 2006
The H1-B Cap and Immigration Reform
By: Mara S. Mijal
On July 28, 2006 the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that, as of July 26, it had received enough H-1B petitions for "foreign workers who have earned a master's degree or higher from a U.S. institution of higher education" to meet the exemption limit of 20,000 established by Congress for fiscal year (FY) 2007. This was in addition to reaching the overall H-1B cap of 65,000 on May 6, more than four months before the start of the fiscal year.
With the H-1B cap hit, U.S. employers are currently unable to hire new H-1B workers until October 1, 2007. Both the House and Senate have introduced the Securing Knowledge Innovation and Leadership Bill ("SKIL Bill", S.2691/H.R. 5744), a measure that would provide much needed reform to the H-1B visa system. Highlights of the SKIL Bill include the following:
- Exemptions for U.S.-educated foreign workers with master's or higher degrees from the H-1B and employment based (EB) green card quotas so their talent can be retained in the United States.
- Creation of a flexible, market-based H-1B cap so that U.S. employers are not locked out of hiring critical talent for over a year at a time.
- Extension of foreign students' post-graduation practical training from 12 months to 24 months.
- Removal of EB immigrant spouses and children from the annual cap, thus making more visas available for the innovative professionals we need.
While there is disagreement on what any new legislation should look like, it is generally agreed that new legislation is necessary. As of this writing, the House of Representatives has passed a bill that generally seeks to punish illegal workers, while the Senate has passed a more moderate bill to tighten our borders. However, the focus of the media has largely been on illegal workers, while U.S. employers have been struggling to find ways to work around the H-1B cap and other employment-based immigration issues.
Further, no single immigration law has been passed by both houses of Congress and, as such, President Bush has had no law presented by Congress for his signature. However, immigration reform will be necessary to allow U.S. employers to continue to hire the highly-skilled foreign labor that they need. If you have specific questions about the requirements for an H-1B visa, other temporary work visas, or permanent immigration options, you should contact an immigration attorney.
Questions?
If you have any questions about this article or any other related matters, please contact:
This article is meant to bring awareness to this topic and is not intended to be used as legal advice.