H-1B WORK VISA CAP

VETERINARIAN WORKING IN AMERICA IN H-1B VISA STATUS

by Danielle Nelisse,   Senior Immigration Attorney

The H1B visa is a nonimmigrant work visa classification used by professional foreign nationals who will be employed temporarily by a U.S. employer in either a specialty occupation or as a fashion model.

A foreign national can be in H-1B visa status for a maximum period of six years at a time and the H1B visa is generally granted in two increments of three years.

Every year the American government only issues a certain number of H-1B visas and there never seem to be enough to go around.

H-1B visa applications are normally prepared by experienced American immigration attorneys for American employers. Current law limits the number of H1B visas to 85,000 foreign nationals each year. No one profession, such as veterinarians, are automatically exempt from the numerical cap.  However, the first 20,000 H1B visas are issued to foreign nationals in all professions who obtained their Masters Degree in America.  H1B visas issued to advanced degree foreign nationals beyond the first 20,000 are then counted against a  65,000 cap.   Degrees in any specialty are acceptable for purposes of the 20,000 Master cap eligibility.

What does this mean for those who want a three year H-1B visa granted during FY 2013 (October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013)?

The USCIS will begin accepting H-1B Visa petitions for FY 2013 on April 1, 2012 (6 months prior to October 1, 2012) from U.S. employers who want foreign professionals to start work on October 1, 2012.

Where can I research H-1B visa jobs offered by American employers?

There are many websites that offer this service, and one is called  H-1Base.

Are there any exceptions to the H-1B visa cap?

• H1B visa renewals and H1B visa extensions of stay do not count towards the annual numerical cap.
• H1B nonimmigrants who work at (but not necessarily for) universities and non-profit research facilities may also excluded from the numerical cap.
• Transfers of H1B visas among U.S. employers only count against the cap when the foreign national is changing jobs from a U.S. employer that is exempt from the limits (academia or research) to one that is not exempt (for-profit).

Although a review of past years (FY2004-FY2009) shows a rapid depletion of the H1B quota every year, FY2008 and FY2009 saw the entire 65,000 H1B visa quota met on the very first day of filing. The annual cap for FY 2008 was exceeded on the first day of filing. A random lottery was held, consisting of cases filed on the first two days, as required by regulation. The separate H-1B visa exemption quota of 20,000 for U.S. advanced-degree holders lasted only about a month after they first became available for FY2008.

In response to that situation, the procedures changed for the H-1B petitions submitted for FY 2009, as the government decided that there would be a lottery of the cases filed on the first five days of filing, if the cap was reached during any of those five days. The cap was again met on the first day. FY 2009 also saw the entire 20,000 U.S. advanced-degree H1B quota exemptions exhausted in one day. The government announced that they received about 163,000 H1B visa applications that year, and approximately 31,200 of those were for the Masters Degree category.

Advanced degree holders have a better chance of being selected in the H1B lottery than individuals who are seeking a regular H1B visa because the government first holds the lottery for the 20,000 advanced degree visas; applications that are not drawn as part of that selection process are then added to the pool of applications for the 65,000 regular H1B visas, giving the first-time advanced degree losers a second shot at getting an H1B visa.

For FY 2011, the H1B visas lasted longer, probably due to the sluggish American economy.  It wasn’t until January 26, 2011 that the USCIS received sufficient petitions to reach the numerical cap for the 2011 fiscal year (which extended from October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011). For FY 2012, the H-1B visas lasted until November 22, 2011.

As a reminder, if a professional needs a state license to work in the U.S. (such as a veterinary license to practice medicine), usually the license needs to be submitted along with the H-1B petition.

Questions?  Email danielle@immigrationworkvisa.com

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