H1-B Visa Insight

It is true that several Indian companies prefer L-1 US Visa over H-1B work permit. L-1 Visas permitted intra-company transfers for managers / executives / specialists in some chosen vertical. L-1 visa holders salary may not be the same as paid to persons in similar positions in USA.

Additionally, there is no restriction on the number of L-1 visas issued during a year and does not require the visa holder to be a graduate. However, in the past decade Indian software programmers were the largest beneficiaries of L-1 Visa and was severely criticized by several American Senators and Congressmen for the misuse.

Also it is not easy to go for your Greencard from an L-1 Visa. So demand a H-1B Visa from your employer in India if you are really bent upon working in the US.

P-3 Visa is meant for special Artists who want to travel to the US with their group for a performance event. P-3 Visa is a Non-Immigrant category Visa and thus the application to show non-immigrant intention.

As an applicant for P-3 Visa, you need to show your capability. Documents such as press reports, letters of appreciation by Media [Radio / TV Channels], photographs or media evidence of past event performance etc.

Get ready to perform as the Visa officer may ask you to do so. If you have visited US or any other European country for similar purpose earlier, then chances are bright you will secure a VISA easily.

According to news reports, Pfizer has shown the door to American employees and is replacing them with H1-B Visa holders as contractors from Indian companies - Infosys Technologies and Satyam Computer Services.

A Pfizer spokesperson said,

Pfizer has historically used third-party IT vendors from the US and other countries for software development, applications support and for daily IT-related functions. However, this procedure wasn't designed to replace local non-Pfizer personnel with those from outside the US.

Satyam said that it was mainly due to its core competencies in Pharmaceutical that is is getting contracts, while Infosys decided to stay mum [maybe didn't want any H1-B issues to be raised in times of global crisis]

We have received an e-mail as to what is a Fraud Interview ? Fraud Interview is most commonly used in the context of Green Cards. It is something where the immigration officer suspects that the marriage between a GC Holder / US Citizen and a foreigner is a false marriage entered into, with a goal to get a foreign persona a Green Card. A specialized interview is then conducted in which both foreign and US citizens are jointly as well as separately interviewed.

Does marrying a L-1 Visa holder and entering the US on L-2 dependent Visa and then divorcing the L-1 holder while in the US be suspicious ? Yes of course. First of all, Indian IT companies like TCS have misused this Visa to such an extent that the INS is scrutinizing the cases very carefully. What you are trying to do is known as alien smuggling and if caught, both of you will be in trouble. Besides, you are immediately inviting trouble for yourself with a legal divorcee in your records and face extended trouble during Green Card.

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.