New H-1B Visas Available Now!

20,000 FY 2005 H-1B Visas To Be Available To Graduates Of US Institutions With At Least A Master’s Degree.   Filings Expected To Be Accepted Beginning May 12th.

The Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) is slated to publish the regulation implementing the availability of the 20,000 additional fiscal year 2005 H-1B visa numbers in the Federal Register on May 5th. Under the regulation, those seeking to employ aliens who hold Master’s degrees, or higher, from U.S.   institutions will be able to file petitions with the CIS.  The CIS has reversed its previous announcement that these 20,000 H-1B visa numbers would be available to all eligible aliens, and not only to those with Master’s degrees or higher from U.S. universities. 

Filing of these H-1B petitions will be accepted at a special address at the Vermont   Service Center five business days after the regulation is published, or beginning May 12th if the regulation is published on May 5th as planned.  Those H-1B petitioners who have already filed a petition for a FY 2006 visa number, with an employment start date beginning on October 1, 2005, or later, may convert or “upgrade” an approved or pending petition into an FY 2005 filing to allow the alien to commence employment at an earlier date, if the beneficiary has a Master’s degree or higher from a US institution and is otherwise eligible. 

The CIS recognizes that, given the period of time that has passed since H-1B petitions subject to the cap were last able to be filed, the anticipated high demand for immediate validity dates is substantial and may even exceed the 20,000 newly available numbers for FY 2005 on the first day of filing.  Therefore, the CIS has decided that, in the event that the cap is reached on the first day, which is expected to be May 12th, it will randomly apply all of the numbers among the petitions filed on May 12th and the following day so that no advantage will be gained by the particular time of day a filing is received.

If you would like additional information or assistance with filing petitions for FY 2005 or FY 2006 H-1B visa numbers, please contact Lynda   Zengerle at (202) 429-8170 ,  lzengerle@steptoe.com, or Joan   Claxton at (202) 862-3891 ,  jclaxton@steptoe.com.