08/31/2003: Recent BCIS H-1B Cap Number Usage Statistics and Fallacy of Sufficient H-1B Cap Numbers After 10/01/2003
The BCIS released the H-1B usage as of the end of June 2003. According to the statistics, out of 195,000 annual cap numbers, only 56,986 numbers had been used. It also reported that there were 47,813 H-1B cases in the pipeline and one third of which will be H-1B cap cases. Accordingly, it gives a rough estimation of H-1B cap number usage of 73,000 by the end of FY 2003, September 30, 2003. Since the H-1B annual cap number will return to 65,000 on October 1, 2003, people may be misled by such statistics that in the coming year, they will have fairly enough number to use.
Even assuming that the economy and unemployment rate do not change much in the coming year, the following factors will affect increased usage of the H-1B numbers in the coming Fiscal Year, especially during the first two quarters:
L-1 restriction legislation will induce the large consulting firms to use increased number of H-1B.
This is particularly true considering the fact that the two factors that had discouraged the largest consumers of H-1B employers from using H-1B numbers will also disappear at the end of September this year. These are:
Current $1,000 which H-1B employer needs to pay for contribution to the American Training Surchange fund will also sunsets on 09/30/2003. Filing fee will return to $130 only.
More importantly, the various restrictions and fear factors that are attached to the H-1B dependent employer will also sunset on 09/30/2003. The nasty provisions on so-called "H-1B Dependent Attestation Requirement of Recruitment and No-Layoff of U.S. Workers" will disappear. Most of the largest consumers of H-1B belonged to the category of "H-1B Dependent Employer."
On top of the foregoing factors, the pending H-1B restriction legislative bill which will require all H-1B employers to comply with those nasty things under the current law for the H-1B dependent employers including attestations will without doubt psychologically affect the potential employers, accelerating their usage of H-1B numbers as early as possible, hopefully before such new legislation is enacted. The current Premium Processing Request procedure will certainly also affect the acceleration process.
Those foreign students in the U.S. who are currently working on Practical Training or who need change of status to H-1B should be particularly mindful of these changing environments. They may not be able to enjoy delaying of change of status to H-1B in order to take advantage of the Social Security tax waiver for some nationals while they work on OPT. They will learn that such decision can end up with a crisis for their not being able to obtain such H-1B status because of running out of the H-1B cap numbers. The foreign student community should keep a close eye on the development of this news!
The BCIS released the H-1B usage as of the end of June 2003. According to the statistics, out of 195,000 annual cap numbers, only 56,986 numbers had been used. It also reported that there were 47,813 H-1B cases in the pipeline and one third of which will be H-1B cap cases. Accordingly, it gives a rough estimation of H-1B cap number usage of 73,000 by the end of FY 2003, September 30, 2003. Since the H-1B annual cap number will return to 65,000 on October 1, 2003, people may be misled by such statistics that in the coming year, they will have fairly enough number to use.
Even assuming that the economy and unemployment rate do not change much in the coming year, the following factors will affect increased usage of the H-1B numbers in the coming Fiscal Year, especially during the first two quarters:
L-1 restriction legislation will induce the large consulting firms to use increased number of H-1B.
This is particularly true considering the fact that the two factors that had discouraged the largest consumers of H-1B employers from using H-1B numbers will also disappear at the end of September this year. These are:
Current $1,000 which H-1B employer needs to pay for contribution to the American Training Surchange fund will also sunsets on 09/30/2003. Filing fee will return to $130 only.
More importantly, the various restrictions and fear factors that are attached to the H-1B dependent employer will also sunset on 09/30/2003. The nasty provisions on so-called "H-1B Dependent Attestation Requirement of Recruitment and No-Layoff of U.S. Workers" will disappear. Most of the largest consumers of H-1B belonged to the category of "H-1B Dependent Employer."
On top of the foregoing factors, the pending H-1B restriction legislative bill which will require all H-1B employers to comply with those nasty things under the current law for the H-1B dependent employers including attestations will without doubt psychologically affect the potential employers, accelerating their usage of H-1B numbers as early as possible, hopefully before such new legislation is enacted. The current Premium Processing Request procedure will certainly also affect the acceleration process.
Those foreign students in the U.S. who are currently working on Practical Training or who need change of status to H-1B should be particularly mindful of these changing environments. They may not be able to enjoy delaying of change of status to H-1B in order to take advantage of the Social Security tax waiver for some nationals while they work on OPT. They will learn that such decision can end up with a crisis for their not being able to obtain such H-1B status because of running out of the H-1B cap numbers. The foreign student community should keep a close eye on the development of this news!