Dan Brecher
Counsel
212-286-0747 dbrecher@sh-law.comAuthor: Dan Brecher|January 21, 2015
Employees can remain in the country in this status for a total of six years.
In recent years, H-1B visas have sold out rapidly, leaving many employers scrambling to make alternative plans. The demand is expected to grow for FY 2016, making it imperative for employers to begin the visa process as soon as possible.
By law, the annual cap for new H-1B visas is 65,000, of which 6,800 are reserved for nonimmigrants who are citizens/nationals of Chile or Singapore. Another 20,000 H-1B visas are available for foreign workers holding advanced degrees from U.S. academic institutions.
If the number of petitions received during the first week of April exceeds the cap, a lottery is conducted to determine which applications will be accepted for processing. Last year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it had reached the limit of 65,000 visas on April 7, 2014. Consequently, any applications received thereafter were rejected.
To give your visa application the best chance to be selected, it is crucial that the USCIS receives it on April 1, 2015. Therefore, it is advisable to send it on March 31 via next-day delivery.
Of course, even if employers do everything right, they may still not be able to obtain H-1B visas. Therefore, many businesses looking to hire foreign candidates will need to look at alternatives to the lottery.
Counsel
212-286-0747 dbrecher@sh-law.comEmployees can remain in the country in this status for a total of six years.
In recent years, H-1B visas have sold out rapidly, leaving many employers scrambling to make alternative plans. The demand is expected to grow for FY 2016, making it imperative for employers to begin the visa process as soon as possible.
By law, the annual cap for new H-1B visas is 65,000, of which 6,800 are reserved for nonimmigrants who are citizens/nationals of Chile or Singapore. Another 20,000 H-1B visas are available for foreign workers holding advanced degrees from U.S. academic institutions.
If the number of petitions received during the first week of April exceeds the cap, a lottery is conducted to determine which applications will be accepted for processing. Last year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it had reached the limit of 65,000 visas on April 7, 2014. Consequently, any applications received thereafter were rejected.
To give your visa application the best chance to be selected, it is crucial that the USCIS receives it on April 1, 2015. Therefore, it is advisable to send it on March 31 via next-day delivery.
Of course, even if employers do everything right, they may still not be able to obtain H-1B visas. Therefore, many businesses looking to hire foreign candidates will need to look at alternatives to the lottery.
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