Our attorneys can represent you in U.S. immigration matters regardless of where you are located because U.S. immigration law is federal: you can be in any state, or in any country in the world.

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10 Ways to Beat H-1B Quota to Start Work NOW!

This year the H-1B quota ran out on the very first day! In fact, there was such a deluge of H-1B applications that the USCIS was forced to run a lottery to decide who among the applicants would receive a coveted H-1B visa. As a result, many applicants who applied on the very first day were unable to get an H-1B visa. Therefore, if you want to have a chance of obtaining an H-1B visa, your best bet is to qualify under one of the quota exemptions listed below. Best of all, if you qualify for an H-1B exemption, you can proceed with your H-1B petition immediately, to start work now (either immediately upon approval of the H-1B petition or upon receipt of the petition if you qualify for portability), without having to wait for the next fiscal year!

Specifically, for the current fiscal year (October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008), the H-1B quota ran out on April 2, 2007, the first day the USCIS accepted H-1B petitions for employment starting on October 1, 2007. On April 3, 2007, USCIS announced: "As of late Monday afternoon (April 2), USCIS had received approximately 150,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions."

There are only 65,000 H-1B visas allocated each year (minus certain special set-asides) under current law. As a result, as the following chart shows, the H-1B quota has run out earlier and earlier, so that this year the H-1B ran out on the very first day.

 

Fiscal Year Earliest Employment Start Date Earliest H-1B Filing Date Date H-1B Quota Cap Reached # of Days H-1B Filing Window Open
(incl. Sat. Sun, and holidays)
# of Days less than prior fiscal year
2005 October 1, 2004 April 1, 2004 October 1, 2004 183  
2006 October 1, 2005 April 1, 2005 August 10, 2005 131 52
2007 October 1, 2006 April 1, 2006 May 26, 2006 55 76
2008 October 1, 2007 April 1, 2007 April 2, 2007 1 54

 

The next fiscal year is federal fiscal year 2009, which begins on October 1, 2008. H-1B applications for that fiscal year will only be accepted from April 1, 2008. However, given the experience of past years, the H-1B quota will likely, again, run out on the first day, and the USCIS will likely have to administer another lottery.

What is the bottom line to this state of affairs? The bottom line is that if you would like to be employed under an H-1B, your best bet is to focus on "beating" the H-1B quota by qualifying under one of the H-1B quota exemptions.

If you qualify for an exemption: you don't even need to wait for April 1, and you don't need to wait for the next fiscal year to begin. You can proceed with your H-1B petition immediately.

Therefore, you should carefully read each of the following exemptions from the H-1B quota, and figure out whether to try for one of these exemptions. Good Luck!

10 exemptions from the H-1B quota:

About Antao & Chuang

Attorney Roger S. Antao Attorney Enna Chuang

Experienced

Since 1991, Antao & Chuang, Attorneys at Law, has served clients located throughout the U.S. and the world in U.S. immigration matters (including H-1B, J waivers, L, E, O, P visa cases, green card cases, and other immigration matters). We represent individuals and companies (from small companies to major multi-national corporations).

Effective

If you retain our firm for your visa case, we will advise you on key legal issues, identify the necessary information for your case, prepare the necessary documents, file the case, enter our representation before the relevant U.S. government agencies or U.S. Consulate/Embassy as your attorneys, and communicate with the U.S. government agencies or U.S. Consulate/Embassy as your attorneys, as necessary. If you retain our firm for a consultation, we can advise you on specific legal issues or provide you with guidance regarding key decisions, as well as a summary of your available options.

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Our attorneys speak various foreign languages, e.g., Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese. To Contact our firm (using our online form) click here.

H-1B Legal Services

What we do

For an H-1B case, our firm first requests certain relevant information and documents from you (relating to the sponsoring company and beneficiary). We then analyze the case, and address any pertinent legal issues, including issues relating to the beneficiary's degree, the offered salary, etc. If a foreign degree evaluation is required, we advise the client accordingly, and either retain an expert evaluator for that purpose, or accept the client's previously obtained evaluation. We then draft the necessary legal documents for the sponsoring company's hiring official to sign, and deliver a package of all of the legal documents to the company with detailed instructions regarding the required signatures, etc. After we receive the signed legal documents, we then file the documents with the relevant government agencies, and enter our representation on your behalf. If the government requests additional information, they will inform us, and we then report the request to our clients, and prepare a response, pursuant to the terms of our retainer agreement. Upon request, we will email to you a copy of our retainer agreement for your review, with no obligation.

How Much We Charge

Upon request, we will email to you a copy of our retainer agreement for your review, with no obligation. Please note our attorney's fees are separate from the fees which the government charges.

We accept VISA, MASTERCARD, and JCB.

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Search for H1B Visa Employers

You can search for "H1B Visa Employers" using this database, which was compiled by Antao & Chuang, Attorneys at Law from government sources. This database identifies those U.S. employers who have filed for H-1B visas in the past, or who have at least started the process by filing for the LCA. If you find an employer you are interested in, you can then contact them to inquire as to whether they have any current job openings in your field. Please tell your friends about this valuable resource.

Use this form to search for H1B Visa employers.

"FMG Friendly" Employers

Foreign Medical Graduates ("FMGs") should be aware that there are "FMG Friendly" employers, and "FMG Unfriendly" employers. This database (compiled by Antao & Chuang, Attorneys at Law from government sources) identifies those U.S. employers who have filed for H-1B visas for foreign medical graduates in the past (or at least started the process by filing for the LCA), and who can therefore be deemed "FMG Friendly". Please tell your colleagues about this valuable resource.

Use this form to search for "FMG Friendly" employers in a given state.

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This website located under the world wide web domain "AntaoAndChuang.com" ("website"), and any subdomains, are owned, and maintained by Antao & Chuang, Attorneys at Law, whose practice includes U.S. Immigration Law. Since U.S. Immigration Law is federal in nature, Antao & Chuang, Attorneys at Law, serves clients who are located throughout the U.S. and the world in U.S. immigration matters, from their offices located at 521 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1700, New York, N.Y. 10175. Antao & Chuang, Attorneys at Law’s attorneys are licensed attorneys in the states where they practice. However, since said states do not recognize any specialization in U.S. immigration law (attorneys in said states are simply licensed in said states to practice law in general), Antao & Chuang, Attorneys at Law does not claim any such specialization, and nothing on this site should be deemed to constitute any such claim. Antao & Chuang, Attorneys at Law does not claim expertise in the laws of states other than where our attorneys are licensed. This website is an advertisement. This website is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Antao & Chuang, Attorneys at Law does not accept clients on the strength of advertising materials alone but only after following our own engagement procedures. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk. The information contained on this site is intended to educate members of the public generally and is not intended to provide solutions to individual problems. Readers are cautioned not to attempt to solve individual problems solely on the basis of information contained herein and are strongly advised to seek competent legal counsel before relying on information on this site. See Terms of Use.