Dear Clients and Friends,

The Immigration Service has announced that as of May 12, 2006, approximately 35,000 of the 58,000 “regular” H-1B visa numbers for start dates effective October 1, 2006 have been used up. Of these, about 7,000 have been approved and 28,000 are still pending at Immigration Service Centers.

Approximately 5,000 of the 20,000 additional numbers set aside for candidates with a U.S. Masters Degree have been spoken for. Of these, about 1,500 have been approved and 3,500 are still pending at Immigration Service Centers.

Applicants interested in seeking an H-1B visa with an October 1, 2006 start date, and who will require one of the remaining available numbers, should act quickly. Last year the Immigration Service stopped accepting new petitions for “regular” (non Masters Degree candidates) in mid-August. This year the cut-off will obviously happen earlier.

Reminder

It is still possible to obtain H-1B status with an immediate start date for “new” employees who:

• currently maintain H-1B status with another employer, OR
• who have previously been in H-1B status in the past six years and have not subsequently been absent from the U.S. for more than one year

[note: if the prior H-1B employer was an exempt employer as described below, the new petition does require a number under the cap and is not eligible for an immediate start date].

Exempt Organizations

The following organizations are exempt from the “cap” and may continue to obtain H-1B status for new employees:

• institutions of higher education
• a nonprofit organization related to or affiliated with an institution of higher education
• a nonprofit research organization or governmental research organization

(These exempt classes are often referred to informally as “educational H-1B” cases, though this label is somewhat misleading.)

Note carefully: this does not exempt all nonprofit organizations; only those affiliated with an institution of higher education