LAST WEEK TO SIGN UP FOR
H-1B LOTTERY
H-1b Visas for
Professional Workers will be available again this Spring
By Christopher
Kerosky
[This was the subject of
a prior article in the March edition of the Sonoma County Gazette]
Every year, in the spring, about 200,000 foreign nationals
roll the dice by entering a lottery for a chance to be able to obtain a coveted
professional visa.
This visa is necessary for virtually all foreign-born
professionals-- from IT workers in Silicon Valley to winemakers in Napa
Valley. For many years now, these
workers and their employers have been required to participate in an annual
lottery to see if they are lucky enough to be able to apply.
The visa is the H-1B – a lightning rod for debate over how many
immigrants are good for the economy, and whether or not wages are depressed by
allowing foreign workers here. For good
or bad, that application season has started again.
H-1b Visa Application
Process.
Persons
holding an H-1B visa can be hired only for "specialty occupations" –
essentially jobs requiring the equivalent of at least a Bachelor's Degree in
the field. Employers must also pay every
H-1B worker the “prevailing wage”; that
is, at least as much as what is typically paid in the region for that type of
work
There
is a limited number (65,000) of H-1Bs every year and in the recent past, these
visas were used up soon after April 1st. For the last ten years, more than 3 times
that number have applied for the visa in the first week of the application
period.
Until
2019, it was necessary to submit the entire application so that it arrived at
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on April 1st. It was always the best day of the year for Federal
Express. Immigrant lawyers would send about
200,000 of these heavy applications by overnight mail the day before to ensure
receipt on the first day of the program.
New H1b
Registration System
For the last two years, DHS has
streamlined the process. The lottery is
now conducted first and employers can simply fill out a simple on-line form to
register. This year, employers who wish
to file H-1B petitions for potential employees can register between noon March 1st to noon March 18th
EST.
That means this
week is the last week to register.
During this period, the electronic
registration must be submitted by the employer or its authorized
representative. If the number of registrations exceeds the H-1B numerical
allocation (which is virtually certain), a lottery will be conducted in late
March. Only those petitioners who “win the lottery” – in other words are
selected in the first group of eligible applicants – will be able to file a
petition for that candidate. Then the
entire application must be submitted to DHS by the employer. The H-1B petition will then still need to be
found eligible in all respects in order to obtain approval.
Path to a green
card?
A
person holding an H-1B visa can bring their spouse and children to live with
them in the U.S. while they are legally holding the visa. Dependents obtain an H-4 visa.
The
H-1B visas are good for three years and can be extended for another three
years. After six years of working in the
U.S., the person must return home for one year prior to obtaining a new H-1B.
In
many cases workers can obtain permanent residence during that six year
period. To do that, the employer needs
to prove that no qualified American wants that job. That is done through a complicated process
called “PERM”. The employer must recruit
for the position on line, in newspapers and among its workforce, and show those
recruitment efforts failed to locate an American qualified for the
position.
TN Visas for Mexican
and Canadian citizens
There is a special visa
for Canadians and Mexicans that gives them an advantage over applicants from
other countries in obtaining such working visas. It is called the“TN” visa and it allows
Canadians or Mexican citizens to come and work in the U.S. with less difficulty
than persons from other countries, provided they have the required training and
education. This visa was the subject of
a prior article in the Gazette. https://www.sonomacountygazette.com/sonoma-county-news/a-special-visa-for-canadian-and-mexican-professionals/
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CHRISTOPHER A. KEROSKY of the law firm of KEROSKY & GALLELLI has
practiced law more than 25 years and has been recognized as one of the top
immigration lawyers in Northern California for 12 years by“Super Lawyers” www.SuperLawyers.com
He graduated from University of California, Berkeley Law School and was a
former counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington D.C. His
firm has offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles and six other locations in
California.
WARNING: The foregoing is an
article discussing legal issues. It is not intended to be a substitute for
legal advice. We recommend that you get competent legal advice specific to your
case.
