John Valdez’s Legal Blog

If you are an immigrant facing seemingly insurmountable hurdles in your attempts to obtain a visa, my advice to you is to keep your chin up, your eyes on the prize, and retain your sense of optimism.  Oh, and don’t forget to ask for professional help when you need it.

I have been a stout advocate of immigrants since graduating from law school in 1995.  During this time, I have seen the growing backlog of immigrant visas, the increased focus on immigration enforcement instead of processing of immigration benefit applications, and the shrinking available of nonimmigrant visas.  In many ways, our visa system is broken.

The latest example of a failed visa system was made apparent in the recent U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updates on H-1B Cap Filings.  The H-1B visa is available to highly skilled and educated foreign nationals.  The purpose of this visa category is to help American businesses fill important professional jobs in shortage occupations so that the U.S. can remain innovative and globally competitive. Unfortunately, the cap on H-1B visas is woefully low.  It is set at 65,000 a year, with an additional 20,000 available to foreign nationals who have earned a Master’s degree or higher from a U.S. institution. 

The USCIS has announced that the 2009 fiscal year cap on H-1B visas was reached in the very first week that the government began accepting applications for them.  Employers filed 163,000 H-1B petitions by April 7, 2008, including 31,200 for job applicants possessing a U.S. master’s degree.  All of the 163,000 beneficiaries of these petitions will now be placed in a lottery to determine the lucky winners.  The computer-generated random selection process will begin with the selection of 20,000 petitions filed under the advanced degree category for those with a U.S. master’s degree or higher. Those petitions not selected in the first lottery will then join a random selection for the remaining 65,000 H-1B petitions allowed under the Cap.  Employers and job applicants not picked must wait until next April to apply again.

Current immigration news is predominately bad, but I encourage immigrants to remember that there are many immigration options.  One foreign national who is unlucky in the H-1B lottery may be eligible for an outstanding researcher visa. Another may be eligible for an investor visa.  Still another may be eligible for a TN visa under NAFTA. 

I make a living finding just these types of viable options for immigrants.  So if you have an immigration problem, don’t panic, seek advice instead.  Feel free to browse our website for general immigration information or contact us for specific legal assistance.  And please feel welcome to use this blog if you want to talk about your immigration concerns.