After student visa expires, what's next?

Date: Saturday, February 19, 2005 2:42 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

by Rob Sanchez
February 19, 2005 No. 1201

Allan Wernick is an immigration lawyer that authors an advice column
for the New York Daily news. He once told the Concord Monitor that
companies that use H-1Bs are the opposite of "anti-American" even if
large numbers of Americans are unemployed. He justified this corporate
behavior because the H-1Bs that take jobs from Americans improve the
economy as they "spend their money here". Sady, Wernick's concept of
patriotism is rather common among AILA immigration lawyers and
corporacrats.

In this week's column he advises a foreign student to get an H-1B visa.
Werner prefers H-1B visas because employers can use them even if there
are qualified American citizens that are available to take the job:

Unlike for most employment-based permanent residence visas,
to get you H-1B status an employer need not prove the
unavailability of a U.S. worker. The employer can sponsor you
for H-1B status even if qualified U.S. workers want the job.

The yearly cap on H-1B visas won't deter foreign workers from getting
jobs in the USA as long as they can get hired from an employer that is
exempt from the limit. Wernick, like most AILA lawyers, knows how to
play the system quite well, and he knows all the loopholes!

You can avoid the cap and apply at any time for H-1B status
if you get a job with a college or university, a nonprofit
institution associated with a college or university, or with
a nonprofit or governmental research institution.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.nydailynews.com/02-17-2005/city_life/story/281541p-241240c.html

After student visa
expires, what's next?

Immigration

Q. Once my student work permission expires, what are my options? I am
here on F-1 international student status. After I received my
bachelor's degree, the CIS granted me practical training employment
authorization for one year. Once that authorization is up, how can I
stay here and work?
J.D., Queens

A. Your best hope is to try to get H-1B temporary worker status. To
qualify, you'll need an employer to petition for you in a job where
your particular area of study is a customary requirement.

Unlike for most employment-based permanent residence visas, to get you
H-1B status an employer need not prove the unavailability of a U.S.
worker. The employer can sponsor you for H-1B status even if qualified
U.S. workers want the job.

You get H-1B for up to six years, in three-year intervals.

The CIS will extend H-1B status beyond six years in cases where an H-1B
worker has been waiting for more than a year for an employment-based
immigrant visa.

Start looking for an employer-sponsor immediately. I say that because
with some exceptions, the law caps (limits) at 65,000 the number of new
H-1B petitions the CIS can approve each year. Beginning March 8, an
additional 20,000 will be available yearly, but only for workers with a
master's degree or higher.

The CIS fiscal year for counting H-1B petition approvals starts on
October 1 and ends September 30.

Last year, the CIS announced the cap had been reached on November 23,
less than two months after the start of the fiscal year. So, the CIS
has stopped approving new H-1B petitions for employment beginning
before Oct. 1, 2005. For employment beginning on that date, the CIS
will start accepting new petitions April 1, 2005. You can avoid the cap
and apply at any time for H-1B status if you get a job with a college
or university, a nonprofit institution associated with a college or
university, or with a nonprofit or governmental research institution.

Allan Wernick's immigration law column appears every Thursday in The
Daily News. Prof. Wernick currently serves as chair of the Citizenship
and Naturalization Project of the City University of New York. He has
also served on the national Board of Directors of the American
Immigration Lawyers Association and as chair of the Immigration
Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. His
book, "U.S. Immigration and Citizenship - Your Complete Guide," is the
best-selling work on the subject. He is a professor at the Baruch
College School of Business, and practices law as of counsel to the Law
Office of Glenn H. Bank in New York City.
E-mail a question for his column:
allanwernick@ earthlink.net

Website:
allanwernick.com

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