Thought Garage

There has been no update since the 9th April 2009 news release by USCIS indicating whether H1B cap limits have been reached for FY 2010 yet or not. As per 9th April notification, about 42000 applications have been received. So it appears, the cap limits haven’t been reached yet, even after almost 19 days in April. Last two years (in 2007(H1B2008) and 2008(H1B 2009)) quota has been reached on day 1 itself. This is quite expected. As I said earlier, I would be surprised even if the cap limits are reached. If any firm is planning to apply, they would have applied on day 1 itself knowing what happened in the last two years. If they hadn’t applied yet, most probably they won’t. May be once Economy picks up or knowing the news that this year it won’t be a lottery, some firms may still look at H1B option. But otherwise, I guess, this is it.

This is the most trickiest and yet the most popular question asked on this blog and in direct emails to me, Will the H1B rush we have witnessed in 2007 and 2008 repeat this year in 2009 as well? The official H1B year 2010 starts from October 1st of 2009. USCIS will accept petitions starting from 1st of April, 2009. Please visit USCIS website for accurate and timely information. Now the answer to that question, without any doubt, a Big NO. That's right. As far as I understand, its a BIG NO. Its my gut feeling and I could be totally wrong. It is very unlikely that USCIS will run in to lottery this year. I will be surprised if even the cap is reached this year. Enough Engineers in US and still searching. Well there are many reasons for it. First of all, there are more than enough IT consultants and Engineers already in US still searching for a job as I write this post. So, I don’t think there is any reason for companies to look to hire somebody on H1B from a different country ...

Dear readers, Many of you have been anxiously waiting for the confirmation that your application has been selected in lottery and you are on your way to getting h1b approved. There were lots of delays and took lot more time than expected for USCIS to process all applications. Last week USCIS announced that it had sent its final notice to applicants and everyone must receive a notification (either a receipt number or rejected application). I received numerous emails that they haven't yet received anything yet. I am pretty sure your employer must have received something by this time now, and they must be thinking of a better time to convey the message to you. For those who have received a receipt number, you can check the processing times of the center that is processing your application to get a better estimate of how much time it may take to get the final approval. Now that you received the confirmation that your application is selected in the lottery, do not worry much about the d...

USCIS announced today that  it conducted the two phased Random Selection process to pick H1B petitions. If you have filed for premium processing, you should hear a decision in 2 weeks from today. If not, you should hear no later than 2nd June. As previously mentioned, USCIS mentioned that it will short list little more than mandated cap of 65000 + 20000. Read more about  the waiting list in USCIS original update. USCIS conducted two random selections, first on petitions qualifying for the 20,000 “master’s or higher degree” (advanced degree) exemption, and second on the remaining advance degree petitions together with the general H-1B pool of petitions, for the 65,000 cap.  USCIS Update (26KB PDF) USCIS Runs Random Selection Process For H-1B Petitions

USCIS announced today that it received about 163,000 H1B petitions for year 2009 that starts from 1st of October 2008. About 31,200 of those are for Advanced Degree category. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced a preliminary number of nearly 163,000 H-1B petitions received during the filing period ending on April 7, 2008. More than 31,200 of those petitions were for the advanced degree category. USCIS expects next week it will conduct the computer-generated random selection process, beginning with the selection of the 20,000 petitions under the advanced degree exemption. Those petitions not selected under the advanced degree category will join the random selection process for the cap-subject 65,000 limit. Read the announcement here. (PDF) If you have filed under Advanced Degree Exemption (20,000 Visas), You have much better chance of receiving a H1B: For 20,000 limit for Advanced degree holders, if cap is reached within the first five days, random sele...

USCIS announced today that H1B Visa cap has been reached for both regular quota(65,000) as well as Advance Degree exemption quota(20,000). USCIS hasn't yet announced concrete number of petitions received. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap for fiscal year 2009. USCIS has also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the “advanced degree” exemption. Before running the random selection process, USCIS will complete initial data entry for all filings received during the filing period ending on April 7, 2008. Due to the high number of petitions, USCIS is not yet able to announce the precise day on which it will conduct the random selection process. Link to USCIS Announcement at AILA Also read Students on F-1 can work for 29 months on OPT.

Now students on F-1 can work for 29 months on OPT before they get employment under H1B. That may ease the pressure on H1B just a bit and give a much better chance for Students in Maths/Engg/Technology streams in US Universities to take employment in US. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released today an interim final rule extending the period of Optional Practical Training (OPT) from 12 to 29 months for qualified F-1 non-immigrant students. The extension will be available to F-1 students with a degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics who are employed by businesses enrolled in the E-Verify program. “This rule will enable businesses to attract and retain highly skilled foreign workers, giving U.S. companies a competitive advantage in the world economy,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “By extending the training period by an additional 17 months to students who are employed by businesses enrolled in E-Verify, we are further ensuring a legal wo...

Following Microsoft Chairman Bill Gate's testimony before the house of representatives, I learnt that two new bills have been submitted that could increase number of H1B visas to double (Gabrielle Giffords Bill) or triple(Lamar Smith bill)  for fiscal year 2008, if they could pass . A bill introduced last week by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords would double the number of H-1B visas that allow immigrants to legally work in the United States. The Tucson Democrat’s bill, known as the Innovation Employment Act, calls for increasing the limit of H-1B visas from 65,000 a year to 130,000 a year . The bill also would eliminate a 20,000-a-year cap on visas for foreign graduate or doctoral-program graduates who study science, technology, engineering or math. Another bill submitted by U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, would expand the annual visa limit even further to 195,000 for fiscal years 2008 and 2009 . Source: Giffords for Congress » Blog Archive » Immigrant-...

Today is the first day USCIS will accept applications for H1B for year 2009 that will begin from October 2008. Will the same drama that we saw in 2007 repeat this year? Well we must wait and see. As I mentioned earlier,  Applications will be accepted for 5 days, even if the cap is reached on day 1. April 1, 2008 is the first day petitions may be received for an October 1, 2008 start date.  When it is determined that the numerical limitations have been reached, USCIS employs a random selection process to choose among the petitions received on the “final receipt date.”  If the “final receipt date” falls within any one of the first five business days, the random selection will be run using all the cap-subject petitions received on those five days.

Last year, Thought Garage topped Google Search for "H1B 2008". And this year, Thought Garage did it again. Thought Garage topped Google results for H1B 2009. When you search for H1B 2009 on Google, Thought Garage appears on the top with the post I have written on 24th January Thought Garage » H1B 2009 : Will ‘2007 H1B Rush’ repeat in 2008? In this post, I have analyzed whether the same rush continue in 2008 for H1B 2009 and many readers sent emails thanking for a great analysis without distorting or exaggerating the whole H1B story. As I mentioned last year, there is no reason for my blog to appear at the top of Google search results for information regarding H1B visas, without your turning to my blog to get the updates and sharing your experiences for the benefit of other guests. I understand for some of you, getting a H1B and working in US will be a turning point in your careers and I am quite thrilled that you considered Thought Garage as one of ...

If you are wondering how much a H1B will cost for an organization, USCIS has offered the details of H1B filing fees for H1B 2009. Applications will be accepted from 1st of April, 2008. ( just 33 more days... look at the count down timer at the top of the page) >>  Link to USCIS Page Base Filing Fee : $320 ACWIA Fee: $750 (1-25 Employees) or $1500 (more than 25 Employees) Fraud Fee: $500 Premium Processing: $1000 Note that these are the fees to be paid to USCIS. Many organizations will incur other expenses towards the filing like Attorney fees. USCIS has also offered helpful information for Organizations that are looking to file for H1B petitions this year. Helpful Hints for Filing a FY 2009 H-1B Cap Case: Quick Tips What are the main errors in an H-1B petition that can cause USCIS to have to reject or deny the petition? Frequently Asked Questions on Completing and Submitting a FY 2009 H-1B Cap Case ...

It looks like US IT Job demand might grow in the days to come, irrespective of rise in out -sourcing and weaker economy, partly due to baby boomers. If that is the trend, we will definitely see a huge rush for H1Bs again this year as well. US software programming jobs took a real wacking at the end of the last recession, but bounced back since—in spite of the offshoring trend and the rise of the Indian tech services industry. Now we’re heading into another recession, it seems. Will US software programmers lose out again? I’m betting no. The reason: The impending retirement of the babyboomers. Already, a lot of federal government programmers are retiring, since they’re reached the retirement age of 55. This factor—combined with low graduating rates for computer science majors—is already causing a shortfall in US programming talent. I believe that whatever cost cutting that’s done by companies during a recession will be more than offset by t...