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.

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.

Is it really true? That in the grand scheme of things around H1B visas, the immigrants and Americans alike are just being played by American companies in search of cost savings? As I think back on the Indian-Americans I met that night, I can't help but contrast the kinds of things they said--and the unemotional way they said them--to many of the angry and even ugly comments we got on our High-Tech Sweatshops story after it was published online. It was disturbing to see workers from different nationalities verbally tearing at one another. The situation is reminiscent of earlier eras in American history, when employers played immigrants of different ethnicities against each other to defeat labor unions and keep wages low. Like them, today’s guest workers and American programmers are pawns in somebody else’s game. Source: Indians in America: Caught in the Middle of Controversy

Business Week ran a cover page story in the magazine this week on High Tech Sweat shops. This is a no brainer to most Software Techies; how the H1B program works, how Consulting outfits work and how they place H1B consultants in jobs that often involve at least 3 layers of sub-contracts. It won’t be an exaggeration to say there is no Placement firm in the US that has not dealt with these so called ‘sweat shop’s. Small (often under 50 employee) High Tech Consulting firms that predominantly hire ONLY H1B consultants. There is a well known  criticism that these firms are unduly replacing American workers instead of complimenting the American work force. This year it is entirely different. Recession is one for sure. But also a variety of reasons. Some of these outfits are under investigation for a variety of fraud ranging from collecting fees for H1B sponsorship to ‘running the payroll’. Not sure how many of them and not sure the extent of fraud. But number of H1B petitions file...

We are almost in the middle of September, yet H1B cap for year 2010 is still at 45000. That means, companies can still file for H1B petitions, if needed. As of August 28, 2009 , approximately 45,100 H-1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn. - USCIS Website I mentioned (before the season started) that I would be surprised if the Quota limits are reached at all, while some are discussing the chances for a lottery again. This reflects the job market more or less and restrictions imposed on certain firms in hiring H1Bs.

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 ...

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.

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.

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 ...

Just watching the 2008 olympics opening ceremony , where athletes from all over the world are marching. On NBC they are showing country name, population and number of athletes, at the bottom of the screen. Let's see how india and china fare, against each other: China Population: 1.3B Athletes: 639 Medals won so far : 286 India Population: 1.1B Athletes: 56 Medals won so far : 17 There has been a huge discussion comparing india and china and how India will beat china. Sports is not every thing. But, Can India really beat china, ever? I love to see. But, as of now, that looks like the best fantasy ever. Via iPhone.

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...

Good news !! U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that beginning on June 30, 2008 it will issue Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) valid for two years. The new two-year EAD is only available to individuals who have filed to become a lawful permanent resident (LPR) using a Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, and filed for employment authorization under Section 274.a.12(c)(9) of Title 8, Code of Federal Regulations (8 C.F.R.) but are unable to become an LPR because an immigrant visa number is not currently available. USCIS to Issue Two-Year Employment Authorization Documents Since USCIS does the determination after you file (based on latest visa bulletin), it appears that it is not required to pay double the fee of one year EAD.

Recently there has been some discussion about USCIS issuing multi-year EADs to applicants that are waiting on Adjustment of Status. Particularly keeping in view a huge number of applicants that filed last summer. You can read more regarding this question asked by attorneys in this document released by USCIS. USCIS hasn't committed any dates in the answer but said will look into this matter. I was searching for something and found this document by USCIS that is meant for asylees and USCIS indicated that it will issue multi-year EADs up to 5 years. So, multi-year EAD concept is not new to USCIS, its just that it is not applied to regular applicants that are waiting on AOS(I-485). Another point to note is that multi-year EAD isn't any cheaper as most of us might be looking. Its almost yearly EAD fees * Number of years ( little less may be). May be you can save your attorney filing fees and filing expenses if you can apply for a multi-year EAD. Hope USCIS looks into the matter at...

I have been receiving lots of emails (92 emails yesterday alone) asking why they haven't received any notification from USCIS and how long they need to wait to get any confirmation. Some even getting suspicious about their employers that they are not telling them any truth about the whole processing. This prompted me to write this post. Hopefully everyone that is visiting this blog and asking questions in the blog posts will read this post, as it would be practically impossible to send response to each and everyone. Why I haven't received any notification? Employers are constantly receiving notifications every day, however there is no data on how many applications have been notified already. So everyone must wait until USCIS notifies that it had sent the final notification. How long will it take? You must wait at least until  the first week of June or until USCIS issues an notification that it had sent the last notification. Be patient and there is no point getting suspicio...

With an interim rule announced by DHS recently,  certain students on F-1 can work for a total of 29 months on OPT before they get employment under H1B. Earlier, students could work only for 12 months maximum on OPT. I have received numerous emails on how to apply for an extension to OPT. While I was not an authority on legalities involved, a quick look at the interim rule, I found some information. Please refer to the  DHS Release : Optional Practical Training Interim Final Rule(PDF) for more information. Also note that students who apply for this extension, must also comply with the new 6 monthly reporting requirements. Read the document thoroughly to understand your responsibilities and eligibility criteria. (quoting from the DHS Document linked below) 1. Students who wish to extend OPT must request that their DSO recommend the 17-month OPT extension. DSOs recommending the extension must verify the student’s eligibility, certify that the student’s degree is on the STEM ...

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...