{"id":24087,"date":"2013-12-10T11:55:08","date_gmt":"2013-12-10T18:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/?p=24087"},"modified":"2017-10-17T10:09:53","modified_gmt":"2017-10-17T17:09:53","slug":"start-h-1b-visa-planning-for-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/start-h-1b-visa-planning-for-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Start H-1B Visa Planning for 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

The federal government\u2019s fiscal year is underway (October 1 was the first day of the year \u2013 remember when the shutdown started?), and employers who hire H-1B workers need to start planning for the 2014 fiscal year visas. Beginning April 1, 2014 the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will accept H-1B requests from any company hoping to hire someone<\/a> needing a new H-1B visa <\/span>as of October 1, 2014<\/i>. \u00a0Yes, these employers must file the visa request 6 months in advance of the employee\u2019s start date. As a lawyer I’d like to say, it\u2019s not too soon to start H-1B planning now.<\/span>
\n<\/p>\n

All year Congress has been debating immigration reform, including raising the H-1B cap.\u00a0 In January, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, an advocate for immigration reform,\u00a0said<\/a>, “If someone is being offered a job here for over $100,000 – there’s other jobs created around that job – you don’t want to discourage the company.”<\/p>\n

Each fiscal year, the government issues 85,000 new H-1B visas (known as the H-1B cap, including 20,000 H-1Bs reserved for Masters degree graduates; for more information, see the\u00a0USCIS<\/a>). This year, for the first time since 2008, the government held a lottery for those H-1B visas because they received 124,000 requests. Based on the hiring of my clients (high tech<\/a> and otherwise) I predict the number of H-1B petitions to reach even larger numbers on\u00a0April 1, 2014. H-1B planning will therefore need to include contingency planning as well.<\/p>\n

The H-1B cap applies only to those employees who don\u2019t already hold H-1B status in the US. \u00a0Employees moving from one employer to another do not require a new H visa number, though the new employer does need to prepare an H-1B amendment. \u00a0However, if a company is hoping to hire a new college graduate<\/a>, or bring in someone from an overseas affiliate, that person will most likely need an H-1B visa cap number.<\/p>\n

The H-1B visa requires the <\/span>prospective employee<\/a> to hold a bachelor\u2019s degree (or equivalent combined education and\/or experience) in a specialized field, and the employer must show that the job offered requires someone with that education. In addition, the employer must first get approval of a Labor Condition Application (LCA) from the Department of Labor, attesting among things to pay the H-1B employee what it pays all US workers similarly employed or the prevailing wage for that geographical location, whichever is higher.\u00a0 Getting that LCA properly prepared involves classifying the professional job in the most relevant government category; for our cloud-based, social media and other new technology clients, this can be challenging as the government\u2019s list of occupations seems to pre-date the internet (I wish I was joking).<\/span><\/p>\n

This year Mark Zuckerberg<\/a> founded a non partisan non-profit group of CEOs and other leaders, FWD.us (also a “Future of HR”<\/a> sponsor<\/em>), to advocate for immigration reform including an increase of H-1B numbers.\u00a0On November 18, FWD.us launched a series of ads<\/a> asking Congress to not let immigration reform die.<\/p>\n

Because\u00a0Speaker of the House\u00a0John Boehner<\/a>\u00a0has made it clear he is not happy with the Senate immigration bill (passed and waiting for action by the House since May), immigration form is looking less and less likely this year.<\/p>\n

If Congress had been able to agree on immigration reform, we might have seen an increase in the number of new H-1B visas given out. Unfortunately, the government\u2019s lack of action means that many hiring managers<\/a> will be scrambling to fill jobs when a candidate they have already vetted is unable to win the H-1B visa lottery next year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"floriaFlora Hoffman<\/a>, Of Counsel with Weaver Schlenger Mazel in San Francisco<\/a>, is a 20 plus year veteran in business immigration. Before attending law school, she worked for a startup software company in Cambridge, MA. Photo Credit\u00a0<\/em>CoyoteCreek<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SmartRecruiters<\/a>\u00a0is the hiring platform for government with everything you need to source talent, manage candidates, and make the right hires.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The federal government\u2019s fiscal year is underway (October 1 was the first day of the year \u2013 remember when the shutdown started?), and employers who hire H-1B workers need to start planning for the 2014 fiscal year visas. Beginning April 1, 2014 the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will accept H-1B requests from any […]","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":""},"categories":[840,842],"tags":[],"series":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Podcast-icon.jpg","download_link":false,"player_link":false,"audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/hiring-success-podcast\/id1472174987","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9oaXJpbmdzdWNjZXNzcG9kY2FzdC5jYXN0b3MuY29tL2hpcmluZy1zdWNjZXNzLXBvZGNhc3Q","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"soundcloud":{"key":"soundcloud","url":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/smartrecruiters\/sets\/hiring-success-podcast-1","label":"SoundCloud","class":"soundcloud","icon":"soundcloud.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/3bM8YzLjM2G9qJXLBBySaB","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/feed\/podcast","embedCode":"

Start H-1B Visa Planning for 2014<\/a><\/blockquote>