Immigration Alert: The H-1B "Cap Season" Is Upon Us
1/16/2008
Clients are advised to plan for the April 1, 2008 “deadline” for the filing of H-1B worker petitions. As you may already know, Congress has placed a numerical “cap,” or limit, on H-1B visas of 58,200 each year, with an additional 20,000 reserved for applicants holding U.S. master’s degrees or higher. All H-1B visas are gone for this current fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, and employers may file for fiscal year 2009 H-1B visas commencing April 1, 2008 (for validity beginning on October 1, 2008). Last year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received 133,000 H-1B visa petitions in the first two days of April, far exceeding the numerical cap and causing a large number of individuals to “miss the cap.” In each of the last several years, the cap has been exhausted in the first few days of April, and we predict fiscal year 2009 will be no different.
At Mintz Levin we are sensitive to our clients’ hiring practices and patterns, and we understand that many of our clients may not have a clear idea how many of their potential employees will require H-1B petitions in the coming months. However, given the incredible volume of applicants we anticipate for this year’s batch of available H-1B visas, and since it is our goal to provide the highest level of service possible, we urge our clients to consider these issues as you move forward in your hiring cycle, and to identify as soon as possible those candidates already in your employment who will require H-1B petitions, so that we can begin preparing the necessary documentation in advance of the April 1, 2008 filing date.
Specifically, employees or potential employees that may qualify for H-1B status include:
- individuals on F-1 optional practical training and J-1 academic training (including those who may have been hired but haven’t begun working yet);
- employees in TN status approaching their third (or higher) year of TN status, or considering applying for green cards;
- employees in L-1B status who may be approaching their fourth or fifth year of L-1B status;
- spouses of H-1B employees already in H-1B status who are considering changing their status to enter the workforce; and
- individuals currently employed with an affiliate overseas, or individuals you may be recruiting from overseas to come to the United Sstates to work with your U.S. operations.
If you have responsibility for your firm’s immigration planning and processing and you have already identified H-1B candidates, please initiate the H-1B application process as soon as possible. Simply forwarding via email the job title and proposed salary, and the full name and basic contact information of the H-1B candidate, will give us the information we need to reach out to you and to the employee to begin the application process.
As always, we are prepared to strategize with clients regarding those potential employees who either do not qualify for H-1B status, or who have a gap in their employment eligibility prior to the start of the next fiscal year.
If you would like more information on any immigration matter, please contact your immigration attorney at Mintz Levin or go to www.mintz.com.
Susan Cohen
(617) 348-4468
SCohen@mintz.com
Jeffrey Goldman
(617) 348-3025
JGoldman@mintz.com
Reena Thadhani
(617) 348-3091
RThadhani@mintz.com
William Coffman
(617) 348-1890
WCoffman@mintz.com
Brian J. Coughlin
(617) 348-1685
BJCoughlin@Mintz.com
Lorne Fienberg
(617) 348-3010
LFienberg@mintz.com
Marisa Howe
(617) 348-1761
MHowe@mintz.com
Bethany S. Mandell
(617) 348-4403
BSMandell@mintz.com
Daniel Maranci
(617) 348-1885
DMaranci@mintz.com
Timothy Rempe
(617) 348-1621
TRempe@mintz.com
