Bush's poll sop: scrap H1-B

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yudhister

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2004 08:51:02 PM ]

WASHINGTON: The United States will shut the doors on foreign tech workers - a majority of them from India - early this election year amid a growing debate on job loss and outsourcing.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that this year's cap of 65,000 H1-B guest-worker visas is nearly two-thirds taken within the first quarter of the fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2003. Some 43,500 visas have either been approved or are "pending in the queue for adjudication."

This means that US embassies and consulates across the world will not be able to issue H1-B visas after February or March, by which time the full quota would have been reached, till the new fiscal year 2005 begins in October 2004.

This year’s reduced quota of 65,000 is a sharp drop from the annual limit of 195,000 that was in place for 2001, 2002 and 2003. Critics of the program roasted the administration and Congress for the higher quota, saying it was denying jobs to Americans, and forced them to bring it back to the pre-2001 quota of 65,000 .

The six-month shut-off period could possibly help dampen criticism of the Bush administration for the job loss heading into the November election.

But industry experts say the squeeze will hurt the United States and American companies more than India. US companies which have already outsourced work to Indian firms and which need Indian techies for onsite work or consultations in the U.S will find a roadblock when the H1-B visa is filled up.

Source:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/504509.cms?headline=Bush's~poll~sop:~scrap~H1-B
 
Originally posted by yudhister
This means that US embassies and consulates across the world will not be able to issue H1-B visas after February or March, by which time the full quota would have been reached,
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This is entirely untrue. All the cap means is that USCIS will not be able to approve new petitions. H-1B visa stamps will continue to be issued all through the year, since they are not subject to the cap.
 
I beg to differ Real canadian

The visa will be stamped only if CIS has approved the petition. If the petition cannot be approved or since the cap has been reached >- the consulate cannot stamp on a case that hadnt been approved before reaching the cap.
whereas if petition is approved (change of status etc), you can go anytime and get it stamped.
 
Re: I beg to differ Real canadian

Originally posted by ag28
The visa will be stamped only if CIS has approved the petition.
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Perhaps I'm being overly pedantic, but as I read the article it said that the embassies/consulates could not issue visa stamps after the cap was reached. That's clearly not the case - if your petition was approved you can get the stamp now even if the cap has been reached.

Of course, since the cap has been reached your non-exempt petition cannot be approved, therefore no stamp.

What I wished to dispell was the notion that someone with an existing petition whose original visa stamp had expired would not be able to get re-stamped in their home country until October 1st, which is clearly not the case.
 
Originally posted by GC_NC123
Aren't you all guys are saying the same thing.. :)
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Yes, pretty much.

I just wanted to be explicit on the stamping portion, because I can see that question popping up: "Can I get a stamp even if the cap has been reached? The Times of India says no."
 
I think it applies only to the NEW applications, and people with transfer or extension or 7th year extensions will not be affected..

Am I saying something wrong here???
 
Originally posted by forum123
I think it applies only to the NEW applications, and people with transfer or extension or 7th year extensions will not be affected.. Am I saying something wrong here???
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That is pretty much correct. Extensions do not count against the cap, nor do transfers (I am not 100% sure on this). The one other exemption is for institutions of education, who were continually screwed under the old cap since they needed people with start dates in August/September, and were out of luck when the cap got hit.
 
H1 cap is only for the first time H1 visas, not for the extensions or transfers. And again the cap has already reached 65,000 as of yesterday. So, USCIS will not process any new petitions for this year. But, already approved petions can be get stamped at consulates and embassies. Ofcourse if your H1 Request is not approved, you wouldn't be having the approved petition and so you can't go for stamping, it's simple logic. This is how it works for years and years!!. The news in Times of India is wrong in the sense, their interpretation is worng. Please visit

http://www.immigration.com/frame/h1bnewprofr.html

And again reduction in H1B visa is not a new thing. It was only 65000 about three years back. During the last year of Clinton's regime they increased it to 195000 mark with a note that it will be rolled back to the original level after 3 years. I still remember reading the news. Now, everyone is saying as if it's Bush's decision!! Funny!

If they need more people, let them give jobs for the folks who are already on bench here!
 
Also even though the cap was at 195000 (interim increased quota for Y2K) for the last three years, the full quota was not used in the last two years. So much for this complaint about lack of quota..
 
RealCanadian,

My friend's H1(First time) application reached INS on feb-17 for Premium processing.
Is there any chance it might get rejected due to Cap?

thanks
 
Originally posted by gogia
My friend's H1(First time) application reached INS on feb-17 for Premium processing. Is there any chance it might get rejected due to Cap?
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Yes, there's a chance. He'll find out really soon.
 
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