J1 to H1B... not subject to annual quota

I

igo8

Registered Users (C)
Hello,

I am a Mexican citizen currently working at a bank in New York on a J1 Visa, not suject to the two year residency requirement. I am looking to get the H1B visa and found some information that said that J1 Visas who received waiver of the two year requirement are not subject to the H1B annual quota.

2 questions
1- Is not being subject to the requirement from the start and getting a waiver for the requirement the same for all intents and purposes of getting the H1B at any point in time?

I would imagine so being that there is no point in applying for a waiver if you are already exempt, eventhough a lawyer told me otherwise.

2- If these J1 Visa holders are not subject to the annual quota, can we apply at any time for the H1B? If so, how long does the process take (ball park) assuming premium process?

thank you very much.... and Happy New Year!!
 
The information which I've got won't let me agree with this piece of information u have. When J1 holders apply for H1b, it is considered a separate application, means no concerns with J1 visa which alien had before applying H1b. Getting a waiver is a requirement for some nationals (mostly developing countries) and doesn't mean that they will have a separate H1b quota. Well, if the rules have changed, may be I m wrong.

Could u pls throw more light on this, I mean.......any links to this information?
 
didn't notice ur 2nd question.

My company is applying for H1b visas of J1 holders from April 1st. This is dead sure that we cannot apply for H1b anytime but starting from April 1st. U may get the approval anytime between 6 months but the work date will be effective from Oct 1st.
 
a waiver of HRR does not have anything to do with quotas for H1B.

If you are not subject to HRR, there is no point in applying for a waiver.

found some information that said that J1 Visas who received waiver of the two year requirement are not subject to the H1B annual quota.
Click to expand...

can you give a link to that information?
 
Web site is misleading

I assume you are aware of what the "annual quota" means, i.e. sponsors that are not-for-profit (academic, government, NGO) are exempt from the quota, but companies and businesses are subject.

Now - simply put, the information on the web page you provided is misleading. Getting a waiver of the HRR - or never having an HRR to begin with - DOES remove an obstacle to changing your status to H1B, but DOES NOT exempt you from the annual cap if your sponsor is otherwise subject to the cap. The web page is probably pointing out that getting a waiver removes an obstacle and you can apply for H-1B assuming you are otherwise eligible. You are not eligible if you are applying to a "for-profit" business (a company, etc) until April 1 for a start date of Oct 1, 2007. The only exception to this rule is if you are EMPLOYED by a "for profit" organization but are LOCATED on the premises of a cap-exempt institution to carry out your job. For example, a company pays your salary but you perform your research at a university, in which case you are cap-exempt. But all this has nothing to do with J-1 waivers.

So to repeat: obtaining a J-1 waiver, or never having a home residency requirement, does not automatically exempt you from an H-1B cap if you would otherwise be subject to that cap. Hope this helps.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
since the link you gave us does not point to the information posted by a government agency, it is not considered official information, and one cannot believe everything the unofficial website says. I can create my own website where I can freely say that anybody with J-1 visa is not subject to H1B annual quota, but that won't necessarily be true.

JK already explained the quota rules to you. Perhaps, the website meant those who got IGA waivers, since they usually work for the government after getting the waiver - and that would make them not subject to annual quota.
 
HHS waivers

Hello All,
Does anyone know anything about the time for the HHS J1 waiver (IGA) to be processed? The HHS official website says it takes 6-8 months to be processed, but I have heard horror stories (that it may take more than 2 years). I would appreciate your help.
Sincerely,
S
 
6-8 months total

It is highly unlikely that a 'normal' case takes that long (by normal I mean no lost files, delayed papers, etc). The DOS usually processes cases relatively quickly (few days to a few weeks) once it has received all the required info. The only conceivable holdback might be the interested government agency itself, which might not provide all the required info to the DOS in a timely manner. Generally, however, this is not a concern. Where did you read that the DHHS takes 6-8 months? And are you sure it doesn't mean the entire process, i.e. obtaining a waiver and changing status? Some government agencies who want to hire a J-1 on a more permanent basis require that the applicant begin the process about a year in advance of their J-1 expiration. However, this does not mean that the actual J-1 waiver itself takes that long, but the whole adjustment process takes some more time.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
HHS waiver

Dear JK0274,
Please take a look at this URL: http://www.globalhealth.gov/faq2.shtml
The official website of the HSS (the office that handles the J1 stuffs) says that normally it takes 6-8 months for a J1 waiver to be processed. "It usually takes 6-8 months to process a waiver case. However, failure to have the correct immigration official’s clearance and signature and all of the supplemental information, clearly marked, item-by-item, may result in further delays".
Still, my lawyer keeps telling me that it may take more than the stated time of 6-8 months. I am doing research in a University, working with a prestigious Professor on a $6 million NIH grant. This grant is one of the NIH priorities. I have included several strong recommendastion letters, several publications, and a lot more! Still, I am worry that they wonot issue a waiver, since I have heard that just 40% of applicants to the HHS received the waiver last year. Next week, it will be 6 months after I filled with the HSS.
Do you have a personal experince with the HSS?
Sincerely
 
I guess I misunderstood your first question slightly - the 6-8 month processing time you refer to must largely refer to the HHS requirement before they send their recommendation to the DOS. So although the DOS may process things very quickly, it takes a long time for HHS to forward their recommendation to them.

In this case, I'm sorry I don't have much knowledge. The things that I can think of to have a better handle on things are as follows:

1- Did you already get a case number before you filled the HHS application? If you gave them the case number (after you paid the fee and filed your online application separately with the DOS), you can check your case number online with the DOS to see if they have received the HHS recommendation. This may take several months, but at least you know that once the DOS has received it, things are almost finished.

2- If you are in some sort of hurry, is there any reason why you do not request a waiver based on no objection? You may still do that even if your IGA is pending as far as I know. If you can get a no objection statement from your embassy relatively quickly, you may be able to get the waiver within a few weeks.

My application is based on no objection, and one of the HHS departments are actually sponsoring me so the DOS did request sponsor views from the HHS, but this is very different from your situation since "Sponsor Views" is very different than an IGA which is a direct application to the HHS and therefore takes a lot more time. Let me know if I can answer any more questions, but I'm sorry I don't have direct experience with IGA waivers.
 
HHS Waiver

Thank you very much. I sent my documents to the DOS on July 6th, and it was refelected on thier wesite on July 17th. So, the DOS has not received the letter yet. The 6-8 months period is just for the HSS to process the application, after which it may take additional 4-6 weeks in the DOS.
I can not apply for a no objection letter, because my home country doesnot have an embassy in Washington. So, the IGA application is the sole option. My I-140 was approved in less than 3 weeks, and I am not able to file my I-485 since I am still subject to the 2 yrs HRR.
 
Gargamool said:
I can not apply for a no objection letter, because my home country doesnot have an embassy in Washington.
Click to expand...
does it have an embassy/consulate anywhere else in the States?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top