H1-B Visa Insight

Programmers Guild in a lawsuit had alleged the 29 Month OPT ruling will experience further job displacement, denials of job opportunities, wage depression and increase[d] job competition. U.S. district court judge in New Jersey this week rejected an injunction attempt by H-1B visa opponents to halt the Bush administration's extension of student visas from one year to 29 months.

The Judge wrote,

Instead of alleging concrete injury, plaintiffs assert a generalized grievance with a particular government policy

The final decision on the case will be delivered on the 14th of Nov [ whether it should be dismissed for lack of standing] All the International Students in the US who have graduated this summer may have a breather as long as you are in STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics domain.

Barely two months after a rule [extending OPT to 29 months] passed by the Bush administration to retain American educated world class immigrant talent within the US, IRLI [Immigration Reform Law Institute] backed by Programmers Guild and other groups have challenged the ruling in a federal lawsuit filed at U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J.

John Miano of Programmers Guild said,

They did this with absolutely no legal basis. We hear over and over again that U.S workers do not have the skill to do the job.

More details awaited and will be updated soon.
Update - 1:
It [New rule] has no basis in the law whatsoever.
Then the rule was improperly implemented as an emergency measure with no notice and comment.

If this bill is passed by the Congress, more H1-B Visas are on way. The bill is introduced by Republican Committee.

The leaders said,

As a country, we are effectively handing these highly-educated, extremely desirable individuals a diploma and a plane ticket. The message we are sending is You can learn here, but you have to work in another country. Every year American businesses tell us how difficult it is to retain the qualified people they want to retain because of the artificially low H1B caps... that do not reflect market realities.

Fair enough, they should probably have a closer look on which companies are using the H-1B quota :-) Why not exempt folks with P.hd from the H-1B and directly process their green card just like some American Schools are doing.

USCIS informed us that it conducted the H1B lottery for both the US Masters quota and the H1B general quota yesterday. The USCIS had labeled each of the approximately 163,000 H1b applications received with unique numerical identifiers for purposes of the H1b lottery. The US Masters degree quota was run first (approximately 31,200 cases filed under this classification with only 20,000 slots available). Any H1B applications filed under the US Masters degree quota that were not chosen were then added to the general H-1B quota applications and then the general H1b quota lottery was run.

The USCIS expects that employers will receive receipt notices for all H1B cases that were chosen in the H1b lottery no later than June 2, 2008. Any cases not chosen in the H1B lottery will be returned with the fees to the employer or attorney of record on the case

Just a while ago we have received communication that USCIS has received about 163,000 H-1B Visa applications for FY2009. Of these 31,200 applications were from Graduates holding Masters Degree & above. The quota limit for general H1b cases is 65,000 and there are an additional 20,000 slots available for individuals who have obtained a Masters degree or higher from a US university.

The USCIS has announced that it expects to conduct the H1B lottery next week. A lottery for the US Masters/Advanced Degree H-1B cases will be run first and then any Masters / Advanced Degree cases not chosen in that lottery will be added to the general H1B lottery.

This is not a law yet but according to the draft available on Department of Homeland Security, all F-1 students who opt for Optional Practical Training are likely to get the work permit for a period of 29 months instead of the regular 12 months. The release said, [PDF]

This interim final rule extends the maximum period of OPT from 12 months to 29 months for F-1 students who have completed a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degree and accept employment with employers enrolled in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS') E-Verify employment verification program.

Congratulations to all the international graduating students in the US. One more advantage of being on F-1 and using OPT is that you are not liable to pay the Social Security :-)