Thought Garage

Can you start a business if you are on H1B ? And Can that business sponsor your H1B and hire you as an employee ? Yes and Yes.  Under the previous interpretations of CIS rules, a highly skilled worker who is legally in the United States on an H-1B visa could start a company but could not work for it. CIS updated the H1-B guidelines to “clarify” that business owners on H1-B visas could work for their own companies, provided that they work full time for the company and are treated like an employee. For example, the company could have a board that is able to hire, fire, pay, supervise or otherwise control the worker like they would any other staff member. Source : On Immigration, a step in the right direction, Vivek Wadhwa Its really wonderful news and clarification to both questions. Even though many people knew that they could start a business while on H1B, its always a rather gray area with too many interpretations.

The new proposal called “Startup Visa Act of 2011” is a whole lot better than the current one and looks quite promising for aspiring entrepreneurs. You can read the full text of the bill here. Here is something that is most relevant to those who are already in US either working on H1B or just completed their studies: Immigrant entrepreneurs currently living and working inside the U.S. on an unexpired H-1B visa; OR immigrant entrepreneurs currently in the U.S. who have completed a graduate level degree in science, technology, engineering, math, computer science, or other relevant academic discipline from an accredited United States college, university, or other institution of higher education would be eligible for a StartUp Visa if… -    They demonstrate annual income of not less than roughly $30,000 or the possession of assets of not less than roughly $60,000; and -    Have proven that a qualified U.S. investor agrees to financially back their entrepr...

Following up a note that I wrote a while back about H1B visa refusals and delays, here is a fresh news brief from Murthy.Com law firm indicating that H1B and H4 visa applications are increasingly rejected without much information. Visit News Brief Page on Murthy.com Back in 2009, I wrote “ Going for H1B Visa Stamping? Be Prepared To Stay Back For A While ” noting that H1B visa stamping is getting increasingly difficult and also taking time and asking reader to prepare well for the delays. But this new note from Murthy.com is little more disturbing. Job market, particularly in IT sector appears to have picked up lot of momentum in the last few months and hopefully situation will improve in the days ahead. If you are going for Visa stamping in India, make sure you take all required and any and all additional documentation that prove your eligibility to avoid delays and refusals.

Can an Employer offer part-time employment on H1B? Can an employee work at multiple jobs while on H1B? Check out this latest bulletin ( VOL. XVI, no. 46; Nov 2010, week 2 Posted : 12.Nov.2010 ) from Murthy Law firm that answers these two rather complicated and frequently asked questions.

This is always a very tricky question to delve into. Will there be any chance the  H1B rush we have witnessed in 2007 and 2008 may come back this year in 2010 or just like last year, will the cap remain unfilled till the end of the year? I think, it will be a repeat of last year. May be, the cap could be reached little earlier than last year. The official H1B year 2011 starts from October 1st of 2010. USCIS has already started accepting petitions starting from 1st of April, 2010. As we can see, the rush of 2007/2008 did not happen this time. Last year I wrote that I would be surprised if cap limits are reached any time during the year. That proved to be true. This year, while the situation remains the same in many aspects, the improvement in market conditions may accelerate the filings just a little and may reach the cap little earlier.

The H1B and L1 Visa Reform Bill is back again. The bill attempts to close loopholes that would otherwise let firms abuse the program and replace US work force instead of complementing US workforce. I do not believe this would threaten the India’s outsourcing Industry at large, but many do as per this news report found at Yahoo . My own understanding is that currently the H1B visa program has been abused by some, for sure. And it is better for all parties to have a fair system and prevent any abuses. While it may change hiring practices by some Indian IT vendors that rely on loop holes, it benefits India in the long run. There are so many things that are currently ‘normal’ in this whole H1B, are not fair, to those who truly deserve the opportunity to work in US. Read the complete Press Release here .  Key Excerpts from the Press release: The Durbin-Grassley bill would mend the H-1B visa program, not end it, making reasonable reforms while not reducing t...

Its no longer a hearsay or a rumor that some Professionals on H1B had trouble getting Visa stampings in their home countries.  When I first shared a similar story with friends and colleagues almost a couple of months ago, most of them didn’t believe and suspected that there must be something not appropriate with that professional, so encountered issues with Visa stamping. Listen to this NPR’s Market Place story that reports that lots of H1B professionals that left for India recently had trouble coming back.   Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. She said her agency is stepping up checks on the H-1B visa program. Those are the visas that let highly skilled foreign professionals work in the U.S. when no qualified American can be found. Professionals from India -- often tech workers -- have generally taken a big chunk of those visas. But a lot of them are now finding it harder to get them renewed. So ...

As per USCIS notification issued on 9th April it has received just 42000 applications for h1b 2010 under general cap. However it received just about 20000 for advanced degree quota. For both categories, applications will still be accepted.

Top 25 Consumers of H1B in 2007 (that account to almost 20,000 Visas) now have to speak up about how they use H1B applicants.  Senators Dick Durbin and Chuck Grassley have sent letters to these companies seeking answers to an array of questions that will reveal how these companies use H1B petitions. Click here to view a copy of the letter . I guess, this is particularly relevant in the wake of two new bills submitted to increase the numerical limitation on H1Bs. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) sent a letter  today to the top 25 recipients of approved H-1B visa petitions in 2007, seeking detailed information on how each firm uses the visa program. These firms were responsible for nearly 20,000 of the available H-1B visas last year. Infosys Technologies Ltd., Wipro Limited, Satyam Computer Services Ltd., Cognizant Tech Solutions, Microsoft Corporation, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Pat...