President Supports More H1B Numbers
Posted Feb 02, 2007
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In addition to President George W. Bush's ongoing support of comprehensive immigration reform, reinforced in his recent State of the Union Address, the President also is calling for increases in the H1B quota. (Further coverage of the President's State of the Union address may be found in our article, President Remains Supportive of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, article #1 in today's MurthyBulletin.)
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President Bush spoke with DuPont employees in late January 2007 and voiced his support for more H1Bs. He stated that he is urging Congress to expand the H1B numbers. The President was quoted as saying that, "I understand that we need to make sure that when a smart person from overseas wants to come and work…it's in our interest to allow him or her to do so."
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We are pleased that the President recognizes the value of bringing the educated, highly-skilled workers into the United States for positions that are not being filled by U.S. workers. Such statements only show presidential support; they do not mean that the H1B numbers will be increased, however.
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The 65,000 annual H1B quota (also referred to as the cap) is simply not enough. For the time being this limit remains. There are an additional 20,000 exemptions for persons with U.S. masters' degrees or higher level degrees. Therefore, those individuals who need to change to H1B status, and those employers who need their services, will need to strategically plan filing for H1Bs in the attempt to obtain one of the H1B cap numbers. The key is to prepare in advance and file the case as one of the first 65,000. The numbers are allocated based upon the date of filing. We remind MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers who are in need of H1B approval under this year's cap to start their cases as early as possible to avoid the "March Madness" of getting petitions ready to file on or as soon after April 1, 2007 as possible.