Builders and Contractors Exchange
Weekly Bulletin: 12 Sept 2005
H-1B Visa Cap Reached In Record Time: U.S. Companies Face Year-Long Bar To Needed Skilled Professionals
By: Mara Mijal
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced on August 12, 2005 that it has met the 65,000 H-1B congressionally mandated cap for the 2006 fiscal year, which means that companies that need highly educated foreign professionals with critical skills will have to wait more than a year before they can obtain this needed expertise. Employers should note, however, that Congress recently allotted 20,000 additional H-1Bs per year for individuals who have earned master's degrees from U.S. colleges and universities, and several thousand of these visas still remain for fiscal years 2005 and 2006.
The exhaustion of the H-1B numbers "is a clear sign that the H-1B cap allotment needs to be better aligned with reality," said Deborah J. Notkin, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). While the H-1B cap has been filled prematurely before, this is the first time that it has been reached before the fiscal year in which the visas would be used has even begun. That fiscal year begins October 1. "This is bad news for U.S. companies who now will have to cancel key job-creating projects or move the projects offshore to round out critical skill needs," said Notkin. "Congress greatly underestimated the need for H-1B visas when it established the cap, and the result could impact the economy in a negative way. AILA calls upon Congress to bring this quota in line with the needs of the American economy."
The H-1B nonimmigrant visa category allows U.S. employers to augment the existing labor force with highly skilled international professionals, such as engineers, architects, research scientists, and others, to provide expertise to American companies for temporary periods. H-1B workers are admitted to the United States for an initial period of three years, which may be extended for an additional three years. The H-1B visa is utilized by U.S. businesses and other organizations to employ international professionals in specialty occupations that require specialized expertise. Typical H-1B occupations include scientists, architects, engineers, systems analysts, accountants, doctors, actuaries, and teachers. 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.
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This article is meant to bring awareness to this topic and is not intended to be used as legal advice.