What Is the Purpose of the H-2B Visa?
Commonly Asked Questions and Answers
The H-2B visa is used by U.S. companies to temporarily employ skilled or unskilled foreign nationals in nonagricultural positions.
What Is an H-1B Visa?
U.S. employers use the H-1B classification to obtain authorization to employ foreign professional workers. The position offered must be in a specialty occupation. The H-1B visa is also used by aliens who are coming to the U.S. to perform services as a fashion model.
Lost the H-1B Visa Lottery? There May Be Other Visa Options Available to You.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa to the United States for professionals and individuals with “specialty occupations” requiring a bachelor’s degree. A “specialized occupation” requires theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge. Examples of “specialty occupations” include engineers, physicians, accountants, teachers and others. April 1st is the earliest date to file cap-subject petitions. The USCIS received 172, 500 cap-subject H-1B visa petitions during the first week of April, 2014. For the first time since Congress imposed an arbitrary numerical cap on H-1B petitions in the early 1990s, there were more losers than winners in this year’s lottery. Given that the cap is presently set at 85,000 (65,000 H-1B regular cap and 20,000 H-1B master’s exemption), there are a total of 87,500 individuals who will not be able to work in H-1B status for the companies which sponsored them.
Immigration Update: H-1B Visa
Petition filings for H-1B Visas surged this year. In fact, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) have reached their statutory cap for fiscal year 2015. With 172,500 petitions received, the cap on these visas was exceeded, leaving USCIS to hold a lottery to select which petitioners would get their petitions processed.
Economic Boost in Immigration
The U.S. Senate’s Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744) is finding support from President Barack Obama as he urges the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the bill or craft similar legislation.
The Immigrant Entrepreneur in the Midwest
The combination of economic stagnation and declining population growth has led many cities to rethink how to rejuvenate their communities. Many cities in the Midwest are entertaining the idea of immigration reform as a way to boost their economic growth.
Legal Status Verses Path To Citizenship
The Debate on Immigration Reform: Legal Status Verses Path to Citizenship
If you have been keeping up with the news on immigration reform, you must have heard the terms “legal status” and “path to citizenship.” You may have wondered what the fundamental differences between the two are and how these will affect immigrants. Below are some explanations that may bring some clarity upon the differences.
Three Reasons 2014 May Be a Year of Immigration Reform
Immigration reform will continue to be debated in 2014 as it was last year. Here are three reasons why some of these bills could actually become law.
Can Chicago Benefit from Immigration Reform?
In spring of 2013, a group of senators drafted Senate Immigration Bill S.744. This important bill addresses all aspects of the immigration process from border and enforcement issues to legal immigration reforms. A Guide to S.744: Understanding the 2013 Senate Immigration Bill, Immigration Policy Center (July 10, 2013).
Indian IT Workers Are the Focus of Two Immigration Bills
If you are a citizen or a student from India planning to live and work in America, it is advisable to pay close attention to the latest bills being debated by the U.S. Congress.