HAMMOND LAW GROUP LLC

Employers: Are your I-9 records in order?

2009-07-02T08:26:00.002-04:00

If not, it's time for an internal audit or an external audit performed by the Hammond Law Group! Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") announced yesterday that the office will send audit letters to 652 businesses throughout the U.S. to determine whether they are complying with employment verification laws and regulations.

As stated on the ICE News Release, "Employers are required to complete and retain a Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This form requires employers to review and record the individual's identity document(s) and determine whether the
document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and related to the individual. The 652 businesses being presented with a [Notice of Intent] today for a Form I-9 audit have been selected for inspection as a result of leads and information obtained through other investigative means. Due to the ongoing, law enforcement sensitive nature of these audits, the names and locations of the businesses will not be released at this time." (http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0907/090701washington.htm)

For more information on the I-9 Audits, please visit the ICE website at www.ice.gov or contact the Hammond Law Group.

ASA Supports H.R. 2536

2009-06-30T14:26:00.001-04:00

The American Staffing Association is urging support for the Emergency Nurse Supply Relief Act (H.R. 2536) introduced by Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) and Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI. The ASA says, "This is not just about nurse staffing, it is about quality health care." The ASA cites statistics from federal health authorities: 56% of the U.S. nurse work force is 45 years of age or older and three million new and replacement nurses will be needed by 2020 to address the shortage.

The legislation would provide up to 20,000 visas per year over a three year period for nurses and physical therapists. The legislation includes a $1,500 filing fee per visa, which would be used to fund U.S. nursing schools.

The ASA joins us in asking that you contact your local member of the House of Representatives.

USCIS Announces Resumption of Premium Processing Service for I-140 Petitions

2009-06-23T09:46:00.014-04:00

USCIS has announced that effective June 29, 2009, it will resume the Premium Processing Service for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker.

USCIS will accept Premium Processing requests for Form I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, involving EB-1 Aliens with Extraordinary Ability, EB-1 Outstanding Professors and Researchers, EB-2 Members of Professions with Advanced Degrees or Exceptional Ability not seeking a National InterestWaiver , EB-3 Professionals, EB-3 Skilled Workers, and EB-3 Workers other than Skilled Workers and Professionals.

The Premium Processing Service is still not available for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, involving EB-1 Multinational Executives and Managers and EB-2 Members of Professions with Advanced Degrees or Exceptional Ability seeking a National Interest Waiver.

July Visa Bulletin Released

2009-06-15T12:04:00.002-04:00

The July Visa Bulletin has been released with little change from the June bulletin. As was the case with the June Visa Bulletin, the EB3 category remains Unavailable. It is expected that the EB3 category will remain Unavailable until FY2010, which should be released in September 2009.

Guidance Forthcoming

2009-06-10T15:37:00.001-04:00

The USCIS will be issuing Guidance for all PT/OT cases that were denied as a result of the misapplication of a Masters Degree standard in PT and OT cases. The Guidance should be issued shortly and will provide the process for having those cases Reopen and approved in an expeditious manner.

-Chris Musillo

At AILA

2009-06-04T09:57:00.004-04:00

I am at the AILA annual conference this week and so I may not post this week unless something major happens. I will post a summary of interesting notes after I return.

I did have dinner last night with my fellow ILW.com bloggers and also met up with the President of ILW.com. For those of who don't know, my blog is reproduced in real time at ILW.com on this page.

ILW.com remains the premier information source on the internet. For immigration lawyers who follow my blog and want to learn more about ILW.com, ILW has a room on the third floor of the conference center at the Venetian. ILW has an extensive library of resources.

-Chris Musillo

USCIS Will Accept PT/OT with Bachelors

2009-05-27T11:33:00.003-04:00

I am pleased to report that we have been successful in the goal of or PT/OT lawsuit! As you can see from this Memorandum, going forward the USCIS will approve all PT/OTs provided that the beneficiary holds at least a Bachelors degree.

Later today or tomorrow, the USCIS is going to formally release this Memorandum. (UPDATE: It has been posted). An advance copy was sent to us last night by the DHS' lawyer in our lawsuit. The Memorandum says exactly what we hoped it would: if a PT/OT (or any healthcare worker) holds a valid unrestricted license, then the USCIS adjudicating officer should not look past the license and "the beneficiary will be considered to meet the qualifications to perform services in a specialty occupation."

The Memorandum also clarifies what happens if the worker is not in possession of a state license. The USCIS adjudicating officer must first determine the state requirements. Then if the only thing prohibiting the worker from obtaining the license is a SSN or valid immigration status and/or being physically present in the US, then the USCIS should approve the case for one years' time.

We knew the law was on our side and so it is good to see the USCIS make the proper determination. All cap-subject H-1 cases should be approved, as we'd hoped when we started this.

-Chris Musillo

ENRSA Next Steps

2009-05-26T10:57:00.004-04:00

Last week Reps. Wexler (D-FL) and Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced the Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act (HR 2536). While this is but one step in the legislative process, it is a critical first step. The American system has many built in “checks and balances” designed to insure that legislation is aptly considered.

The Bill will be referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. That Committee may refer it to subcommittee(s). This process is at the complete discretion of the leaders of that committee.

After the Committee has passed the bill, the bill can get offered for a vote to the House of Representatives, which is the lower American legislative body. Whether a vote is taken or not is subject to the Speaker of the House. If approved by the House, the Senate must then consider the legislation.

Upon approval from both the House and the Senate, the bill is immediately offered to the President who will almost certainly sign the bill into law. From time to time, the President can veto bills that have been passed by the Senate and the House, but this is a controversial political move and not one likely to be used against the ENSRA.

As you can tell the process is lengthy. For smaller legislation it is often difficult to clear all of the hurdles in one two-year Congressional term.

However, there is a second “shortcut” process. A bill may be attached to a bigger piece of legislation. This is the process that was used in 2005 to get the Schedule A EX visa bill passed. The Schedule A EX visa bill was attached to the 2005 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act.

The process of attaching a smaller bill to a larger one has a formal process of an amendment being offered and accepted. The formal process is, however, secondary to the informal process, which includes much behind the scene dialoging with powerful political leaders.

To some degree, the informal process began three years ago when it became apparent that the retrogression would resurface. The efforts have continued.

If you would like to aid in this process, and it is imperative that everyone who has a vested interest in the process does so. Please take the following steps:

If you are a hospital, long term care facility, please email your Representative. Here is a link to the Representative list. Here is the template email that you can send.

If you are a staffing company, please email your Representative. But use this template email.

If you are an international nurse or Physical Therapist, then please contact your sponsoring hospital and/or staffing company and make sure that they are sending in these emails.

If you are an US citizen who believes that increased funding for domestic nurse schooling funded by a short-term visa program for these healthcare workers, then please send in this email to your Representative.

-Chris Musillo

ENSRA introduced

2009-05-21T10:23:00.001-04:00

Yesterday Rep. Wexler (D-FL) introduced the Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act (HR 2536). The preliminary copies that I have seen show the bill to be largely similar to last term’s HR 5924. Once the GPO officially publishes the bill, I will provide a link and explain what the next steps are/ timing / etc.

-Chris Musillo

H-1B Cap Thoughts

2009-05-20T09:49:00.003-04:00

On May 15 the USCIS announced that it has received 45,500 H-1B petitions counting toward the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap; this is only 500 more than the April 27 figure. This implies that H-1B petitions continue to slow. It also implies that the idea that the H-1B is used to lower wages and replace US workers is wildly overblown. As I’ve previously said, if that was the case there shouldn’t be any material drop in H-1B usage.

The Masters cap has received the full subscription of 20,000 petitions. USCIS continues to accept Masters cases since their experience is that not all accepted cases will be approvable. As students graduate from university in late May and June, it is expected that there will be an uptick in H-1B usage. The degree of the uptick is unknown at this point. If the uptick is smaller than expected, there is a chance that the H-1B cap could remain open all summer and maybe even into the fall. On the other hand, the economy does show some flares of stability and so H-1B usage by May/June graduates could be notable.

For the healthcare industry, the H-1B remains an option to fill employment gaps in occupational shortages. As a general rule if the position requires a Bachelors degree for licensure, then the position is appropriate for an H-1B visa. Of course, the proposed worker must hold the requisite degree.

Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists remain viable for H-1B visas. Cases filed at the Vermont Service Center are being approved as they should be. However inconsistent results out of the California Service Center continue to frustrate employers.

USCIS Chief of Service Center Operations has recently confirmed that “USCIS does not currently have a policy that employers filing H-1b petitions for physical and occupational therapists must require the minimum of a Masters Degree for such positions to qualify as specialty occupations.” This pronouncement was made in early May, and so it remains to be seen whether or not the California Service Center will adhere to the statement from their superiors in Washington D.C.

Some registered nursing positions are appropriate for H-1B visas as well. In broad strokes, the H-1B is appropriate for RN positions if either:

1. The hospital is offering the nurse a position as a Clinical nurse specialist (CNS), Certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), Certified nurse-midwife (CNM), or a Certified nurse practitioner (APRN-certified) Critical care and she holds the certification;

2. The nurse will be working in an Administrative position ordinarily associated with a Bachelors degree, such as Charge Nurse or Nurse Manager;

3. The nurse will be working in one of these specialties: peri-operative, school health, occupational health, rehabilitation nursing, emergency room nursing, critical care, operating room, oncology and pediatrics.

The hospital must attest that these roles are only offered to those with Bachelors degrees.

-Chris Musillo

May BIM

2009-05-17T16:02:00.001-04:00

HLG has just published its Business Immigration Monthly for May.

May 2009 Headlines:
Feature Article: The New DOL iCert System
June Visa Bulletin
H-1 Cap News
...and more

June VB Released

2009-05-10T18:03:00.002-04:00

The June Visa Bulletin has been released. As was the case with the May VB the EB3 category remained Unavailable. It is expected that the EB3 category will remain Unavailable until FY2010, which should be released in September 2009.

Somewhat surprisingly was the retrogression of EB2 numbers for the Indian and Chinese categories.

The Visa Bulletin contained two relevant notes:

D. RETROGRESSION OF THE INDIA EMPLOYMENT SECOND PREFERENCE CUT-OFF DATE
It has been necessary to retrogress the India Employment Second preference cut-off date for June to keep visa issuances within the annual category numerical limit. At this time, it is not possible to estimate whether or not this retrogression will apply throughout the remainder of the fiscal year.

E. EMPLOYMENT-BASED VISA AVAILABILITY DURING THE REMAINDER OF FISCAL YEAR 2009
Applicant demand for numbers, primarily for adjustment of status cases at Citizenship and Immigration Services offices, has been extremely heavy throughout the year. As a result, visa availability during the final quarter could become limited as categories approach their annual numerical limits. Therefore, visa availability throughout the remainder of the year cannot be guaranteed, and the establishment of cut-off dates, or retrogression of existing cut-off dates, cannot be ruled out.

-Chris Musillo

National Nurses Week

2009-05-07T11:26:00.003-04:00

The Nursing and Allied Workers Immigration Blog is pleased to recognize this week as National Nurses Week. NNW is week-long celebration of the significant contributions that nurses have and continue to make to the American landscape. The American Nurses Association has a special page dedicated to highlighting facts about nurses.

Many of these facts detail the nursing shortage, the projections for short supply in the next decade, and the consequences of such short supply, including:

According to projections released in February 2004 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, RNs top the list of the 10 occupations with the largest projected job growth in the years 2002-2012. Although RNs have listed among the top 10 growth occupations in the past, this is the first time in recent history that RNs have ranked first. These 10-year projections are widely used in career guidance, in planning education and training programs and in studying long-range employment trends. According to the BLS report, more than 2.9 million RNs will be employed in the year 2012, up 623,000 from the nearly 2.3 million RNs employed in 2002. However, the total job openings, which include both job growth and the net replacement of nurses, will be more than 1.1 million. This growth, coupled with current trends of nurses retiring or leaving the profession and fewer new nurses, could lead to a shortage of more than one million nurses by the end of this decade. (For details, see www.bls.gov/emp/#outlook .)

The nation's registered nurse (RN) workforce is aging significantly and the number of full-time equivalent RNs per capita is forecast to peak around the year 2007 and decline steadily thereafter, according to Peter Buerhaus of Vanderbilt University's nursing school. Buerhaus also predicted that the number of RNs would fall 20 percent below the demand by 2010. (Journal of the American Medical Association, June 14, 2000).

Schools of nursing were forced to reject more than 147,000 qualified applications to nursing programs at all levels in 2005 – an increase of 18 percent over 2004, according to a report by the National League for Nursing (NLN). The NLN Blamed the problem in part on a continuing shortage of nursing educators. Meanwhile, nursing colleges and universities denied 32,617 qualified applicants in 2005, also resulting primarily from a shortage of nurse educators, according to survey data released by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). The AACN survey also reveals that enrollment in entry-level baccalaureate nursing programs increased by 13.0 percent from 2004 to 2005. According to AACN, this is the fifth consecutive year of enrollment increases with 14.1, 16.6, 8.1 and 3.7 percent increases in 2004, 2003, 2002 and 2001, respectively. Prior to the five-year upswing, baccalaureate nursing programs experienced six years of declining enrollments from 1995 through 2000.

Even more interesting facts can be found at the ANA’s special webpage dedicated to NNW facts.

-Chris Musillo

May MMM Published

2009-05-05T15:40:00.001-04:00

MONTHLY MEDICAL MONITOR

May 2009 Headlines:
H-1B Cap Update
What the Lack of H-1B Filings Really Means

Demand for Nurses: Less During Downturn

...and more

To subscribe to the MMM, go here.

May Day

2009-05-01T10:13:00.007-04:00

Today is May Day which is traditionally a day that working immigrants in this country exercise their right to freely gather. Rallies may be held across the country in support of Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

While CIR is being bandied about Washington DC, readers of this Blog are focused on more targeted legislation: retrogression relief for Schedule A workers – Registered Nurses and Physical Therapists. No matter what happens in the interim, CIR is going to be pushed by President Obama and is going to have significant consequences for employment based immigration.

No legislation gets approved in this country without significant constituent action. For May Day, I ask that you contact your local Representative and two Senators and explain to them that the US nursing shortage is a short and long-term problem and that international workers must be a part of the solution. This will help lay the groundwork for specific Schedule A legislative initiatives that will be introduced in the near future as well as the eventual introduction of CIR.

-Chris Musillo

What the lack of H-1B filings really means

2009-04-25T11:05:00.004-04:00

The USCIS’ recently updated its regular cap FY 2009 H-1B cap count. The update of 44,000 accepted petitions, up from 42,000 in the first announcement, means a run rate of about 1,000 petitions per week. At this rate it may be five or six months until the H-1B cap is reached.

In prior years we have seen more than twice as many H-1B cases accepted as slots were available. These numbers provide compelling evidence against the argument that internationally-trained workers are being used to displace American workers and lower US workers salaries. That argument just doesn’t jibe with what is actually happening.

If H-1B visa labor was being used primarily to lower US workers salaries, the H-1B filing numbers wouldn’t be impacted to any meaningful degree. Why? Because the incentive to reduce workers’ salaries is likely greater in a recessed economy, not less. This logic is straightforward and convincing.

Yet, this year we’ve seen a dramatic downtick in H-1B visas filed in industries like Information Technology and Finance. Meanwhile industries with continued staffing shortages, such as healthcare and teaching, continued to file H-1B Petitions. If the H-1B program was being used to lower salaries, why aren’t the IT and financial industries continuing to file H-1B petitions? Are these industries not interested in cutting costs?

It bears worth repeating: if the H-1B program is used to reduce US workers salaries, why haven’t the H-1B Petition numbers continued in industries where every dollar is increasingly important?

In point of fact, the H-1B program is largely used to supplement worker supply shortages and attract the international superstars to the US. This isn’t to say that there aren’t the occasional bad actors who abuse the system. But the relative paucity of H-1B enforcement actions calls into serious question that there is any large-scale fraud inherent in the system. Particularly noteworthy is the complete lack of any arrests or prosecutions in the wake of a well-publicized September 2008 DHS report on H-1B Benefit Fraud.

Critics of the H-1B system fail to acknowledge just how well the system actually works. In robust times, the H-1B system allows growing companies to attract more workers from overseas when they can't fill those jobs with US workers. In down times, when jobs are few, the market does what it is supposed to do and fewer H-1B job offers are made.

If Congress really wants to reform the H-1B process, it ought to eliminate the arbitrary quota and just let the market sort out the numbers question. Congress also ought to give non-bachelor degree occupations with well-documented staffing shortages, such as nursing, access to the H-1B program.

-Chris Musillo

H-1 Cap Update

2009-04-20T20:56:00.003-04:00

The USCIS has announced that it has received 44,000 H-1B petitions counting toward the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap, as of April 20. The USCIS continues to accept regular cap-subject H-1B cases.

On April 9, the USCIS announced that it had received 42,000 cases, which means that they are only receiving 1,000 cap-subject cases per week. At this rate it could be 5-6 months before the H-1B cap is reached.

The Masters cap has received the full subscription of 20,000 petitions. USCIS continues to accept Masters cases since their experience is that not all accepted cases will be approvable.

The USCIS Cap Count page should update the cap numbers, although it doesn’t look like USCIS has started to update the page as of yet.

-Chris Musillo

Charice!

2009-04-16T17:57:00.007-04:00

A friend sent this video of the Philippine sensation, Charice, singing the Star Spangled Banner before the start of a Los Angeles Dodgers game. It is one of the most powerful renditions of the US National Anthem that you will ever hear or see. Since so many Philippine nationals visit this blog, and there are a lot of potential immigrants out there who think that America is forgetting about you, I thought that it was important to share. America still needs immigrants and especially healthcare workers. In the next few weeks, I expect that we'll soon see evidence of this.

May VB

2009-04-09T11:04:00.004-04:00

The May Visa Bulletin has been released. As expected there is no positive movement. The Bulletin confirms that there will be no positive movement until the next fiscal year, which is the October 2009 Visa Bulletin.

Although the EB3 dates are Unavailable, I-140 petitions may still be filed by companies who wish to petition for Immigrant Workers. The only way for a Beneficiary to get his or her spot in the queue is to have an I-140 filed on their behalf.

With the continued retrogression, the international staffing and recruiting industry is disappearing. Nurse and other allied healthcare workers from around the world are crossing the United States off their list of desired countries. The one hope is that Congress, when presented with legislation to allow international recruiting to be part of the solution, acts on that opportunity.

May 2009 VB:
EB1 - all Current
EB2 - all Current, except India (15Feb04) and China (15Feb05)
EB3 - all Unavailable

H-1B Cap for FY 2010 Has Not Been Reached

2009-04-08T11:55:00.004-04:00

For the first time in several years, the H-1B visa cap has not been met on the first day that H-1B visas have been available. All H-1B filings that have been filed and received by April 7, 2009 will be accepted by USCIS. It remains to be seen for how long the H-1B visa cap remains open and available.

When the USCIS declares that the H-1B visa cap is met, all cases receipted on the last day will be subject to a random lottery. Until the USCIS declares that the H-1B visa cap has been met, cap-subject H-1B cases may continue to be filed.

Similarly the H-1B Masters cap has also not been reached.

UPDATE: AILA is reporting that USCIS has received about one-half of the 65,000 H-1B visas for the regular cap, but that the Masters cap has nearly been reached.

April MMM

2009-04-07T11:04:00.000-04:00

The April MMM has been released. This month's headlines include:

Lofgren: Nursing Shortage Continues
Will The H-1 Cap Be Reached?
Yates Responds to Ombudsman
...and more

ILW.com teleconferences

2009-04-03T11:03:00.000-04:00

HLG attorneys will be featured speakers and panelists on two upcoming Healthcare phone conferences.

April 8, 2009
Sherry Neal and Chris Musillo are featured panelists for ILW.com's telephone seminar, Healthcare Immigration for Beginners.
Register

May 7, 2009
Chris Musillo is a featured speaker for ILW.com's telephone seminar, Options For Healthcare Professionals.
Register

Lofgren on H-1s and RNs

2009-04-01T10:57:00.010-04:00

April Fools Day is a big day in employment-based immigration. It is the culmination of the “H-1B season.” Companies who have waited all year to hire foreign nationals must rush to get their H-1B visas in the mail and delivered to the USCIS no later than April 7. Conceivably, the H-1B season could extend beyond April 7 if fewer than 65,000 visas are received at USCIS.

The H-1B is one of the more controversial visas in the US immigration scheme. US technology workers often complain that the visa is abused by unscrupulous employers. While there are certainly instances where abuse occurs, neither the USCIS nor the DOL bring many cases against employers, which could lead one to conclude that the complaints are overstated.

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren is the Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Citizenship, Refugees, Immigration, and Border Security, and as is the case with one who holds this position, the nation’s most important voice on immigration. In today’s San Jose Mercury News, Rep. Lofgren speaks on the state of the H-1B visa.

"Even in this grim economy, there are some jobs in which we don't have enough people — for example, we still have a nursing shortage," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren. Rep. Lofgren doesn’t note that very few RN positions qualify for H-1B visas.

Rep. Lofgren’s long-standing goal has been to push a comprehensive immigration bill that attempts to solve many of the US’ immigration problems. She doesn’t think that piecemeal legislation is the best way to legislate on the issue.

The problem with this approach is, of course, that the nursing shortage is here today. For three years niche occupations and employers who have lobbied Congress have been told to wait for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. By the time that Congress is able to get around to passing a comprehensive immigration policy, my hunch is that the legislation will solve last decade’s problem, not the problem that the country needs solving at that date.

Ms. Lofgren should recognize that the needs are today’s problems, not tomorrow's. She also ought to recognize that there is little likelihood for comprehensive immigration reform; there are too many interested agendas and tempers run too hot when immigration is discussed. The American public needs healthcare workers and this fact calls for targeted niche immigration reform. Holding out for CIR is a fools’ game.

PT OT Masters Issue: Update

2009-03-26T16:24:00.003-04:00

As blog readers are aware, in the last few weeks, the USCIS has denied several physical therapist and occupational therapist cases for H-1b visa petitioners. The USCIS is making several critical mistakes in their application of their regulation.

Any one of these reasons compels the USCIS to approve these cases. Taken together, the case is even clearer.

1. The most compelling reason is that the purpose of the specality occupation regulation is to create a Bachelors degree educational “floor” for H-1(b) eligibility. The USCIS’ interpretation creates a Masters Degree floor.

2. The employer’s job offer meets the third alternative standard of that regulation: the employer is offering a position that requires a degree.

3. The USCIS found that the positions of PT and OT have a national standard. To make this determination, USCIS relied exclusively on the Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook. The OOH is simply a restatement of common job requirements. It is neither conclusive nor definitive.

CGFNS, FCCPT and NBCOT have all weighed in on the issue. All three letters have explained to USCIS that the OOH is wrong. There is no national Masters Degree standard for PTs and OTs. Any denials based on this finding of fact are factually incorrect.

Read each letter:

CGFNS, FCCPT, NBCOT No.1, and NBCOT No.2

4. The relevant states themselves continue to issue licenses to these workers. This is further evidence that the OOH’s conclusions are incorrect, and USCIS ought not rely on this publication.

5. Congress has been worried that USCIS would get into the educational evaluation business. In order to make sure that USCIS would not do what they are currently doing, in 1996 Congress passed INA 212(a)(5)(C) (Healthcare Worker Certificate statute, or HWC). The HWC says that before any PT or OT can be approved by USCIS, an independent credentialing organization must issue a Certificate that says that, among other things, that the PT or OTs international education is equal to US workers of the same occupation. The very nature of the issuance is that the education is comparable.

H-1B Season

2009-03-25T09:04:00.004-04:00

There are only 13 days left until the window will opens for the filing of H-1B visas for FY 2010. The H-1B visa is the work visa that is often used by professional occupations. While the number of H-1(b) cases that are filed may be less than in recent years, it still is likely that the H-1B cap is reached on the first day of filing. Filings may be received at the USCIS until April 7.

Employees that may need an H-1B visa include:
· International students working for your company on an EAD card under an OPT or CPT program after having attended a U.S. school;
· International employees working for your company on a TN may need an H-1B filed for them in order for them to pursue a permanent residency (green card) case;
· Prospective international employees here in the U.S. in another visa status e.g. H-4, L-2, J-1, F-1, H-1 with a cap exempt organization, etc.; and,
· Prospective international employees currently living abroad.

International workers who are working here in the U.S. on an H-1B visa with another cap subject employer are not subject to the April 1, 2009 cap filing deadline. These cases are commonly referred to as “transfer” cases and may be filed at any time throughout the year.

Many healthcare professions ordinarily qualify for H-1(b) status, including Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Therapists, and some Registered Nursing jobs.