Legal Question in Immigration Law in California

Re: Can I apply H1B for this year ubder the increased qoata of 30000

On October 20, 2005, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee passed, by a vote of 14-2, a proposal to provide H-1B visa and employment-based immigration relief. The proposal included provisions providing temporary relief from the H-1B visa blackout and the employment-based immigrant visa backlogs in exchange for increased fees on some petitions.

The U.S. Senate proposal includes the following:

(1) Imposes a new $500.00 fee on immigrant visa petitions for the EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 categories;

(2) Recaptures unused employment-based immigrant visas from prior years for immediate allocation of up to 90,000 per year;

(3) Exempts spouses and minor children from counting against the annual cap for employment-based immigrant visas. It is expected that this would lead to an annual increase of 80,000-90,000 employment- based immigrant visas;

(4) Allows individuals to apply for adjustment of status before an immigrant visa is available. (although approval could not occur until a visa number is available.);

(5) Recaptures approximately 300,000 unused H-1Bs dating back to Fiscal Year 1991. Approximately 30,000 H-1Bs would be available annually, effectively raising the annual H-1B cap from 65,000 to 95,000 for at least 10 years;

(6) Imposes a new fee for the recaptured H-1B visas. The fees for the first 65,000 H-1B allotment remain unchanged but the additional 30,000 H-1B visas would have an additional $500.00 fee; and

(7) Imposes a new $750.00 fee for L-1 visas.

The next step is for the Senate�s proposal to be reconciled in conference with the House of Representatives� alternative budget reconciliation bill. It is important to understand that these proposals are not yet law. In order to become law, both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives would have to approve the proposal in a bill, and the President would have to sign the bill. There is no guarantee that it will pass in its present form, or even at all. However, it is a positive sign that there is some movement in legislation aimed at addressing the problems with the H-1B cap and visa retrogression.

In short, the H-1B quota has not been increased.