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President
Clinton signed a major immigration bill into law last month, which changed
several important features of the framework of the popular H-1B visa for
professional guest workers. The
law, called “the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century
Act of 2000 ("ACTA"), came into effect immediately with the October 17
signing, but some important aspects are delayed for a few months.
Major highlights are listed below :
Increase in H1B Quota and Fees
The new law increases the total number of visas that can be issued in 2001,
2002, and 2003 to 195,000 for each fiscal year. This is a substantial increase
from the current visa limit, and reduce the amount of time during the year that
H-1B visas are not available. In
addition, the new law frees certain types of employers and workers from the
limit altogether, such as workers who will work at a university or government
research organization, and certain types of H-1B beneficiaries who are changing
from J-visa status.
The new law also increases the H-1B fee by
$500, so that now the total fee paid to the INS will be $1110.
The new fee will come into effect on or after December 17, 2000.
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H1B Can Start Working Upon Filing of H1B
Another important feature of the new law makes the H-1B status “portable.”
This means that someone who is already in H-1B status, in most cases, may
accept new employment and start working immediately upon filing the new H1B
petition. (Of course, if the new
petition is denied, then the person can no longer work.)
This rule applies not just to new H-1B petitions, but to all H-1B
petitions that were filed before, on, or after the date of the enactment of the
law.
H1B Extensions Beyond Six (6) Years
Allowed
One part of the new law deals with H-1B workers who are trying to change to
green card status through their employment.
Normally, H-1B workers have a maximum of six years in that status.
The new law states that if
labor certification or an employment-based immigration petition was filed at
least one year ago AND the person still has the petition or a green card
application pending, then the H-1B six year cap shall not apply against the
person. Instead, the INS will
approve an H1B petition extension in one-year increments until a final decision
is been made on the person's permanent resident status.
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General Improvement of the Immigration System
Another key aspect of the new law tries to improve the immigration system,
primarily by finding ways to eliminate backlogs and process all immigration
applications within one year, as well as to provide for regular congressional
oversight of the INS in eliminating backlogs and processing delays.
Congress believes that all immigration applications should be completed no later
than 180 days after the initial filing of the application. Exceptions would be a
non-immigrant visa for those applying for H, L, O and P status, which should be
processed by the INS no later than 30 days after the date of filing the
petition.5y>
Conclusion
The
new law has been seen as a great victory for activists fighting for immigration
rights and fairness. The fact that
the law was passed with such an overwhelming majority shows the importance of
immigration to the U.S. economy.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact John Byrley at
tel: 410-719-1501.
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