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US Immigration News

Items tagged with "US Immigration News":

Must reach the US between October 7, 2002 and November 6, 2002!

The US Government in an unique scheme grants 50,000 immigrant visas a year on the basis of a lottery scheme. This year you have to mail the application so that it reaches the US between October 7, 2002 and November 6, 2002. The requirements of the Green Card Lottery are as follows:

President Clinton signed the bill to increase the number of US temporary work visas for the next three years. The quota of the number of H-1B visas has been raised to 195,000 to allow skilled workers with job offers from US employers to obtain the necessary permits to work in the US. The new law also increases the application fee for an H-1B visa from $610 to $1110.

The visa waiver program allows nationals of certain countries to enter the US as tourist or business visitors for three months without obtaining visas from the US Embassy. The US House of Representatives passed a bill to make the program permanent. The bill also creates a special immigration status for employees of INTELSAT, a satellite communications company that was controlled by various governments, but is now being privitized. The last point of the bill includes an extension of the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program which allows non-US citizens to invest through regional centers.

US employers wishing to hire an overseas worker for temporary skilled work under an H1B visa will now typically expect to pay $1110 instead of $610 (including the usual INS fee). The Senate just passed the bill to increase the costs of H1Bs yesterday. The new fees come into effect two months after the enactment of the Act. Employers who plan to apply for the H1B work visa may wish to consider applying soon to avoid paying the new fees.

The United States House of Representatives just passed a new bill to increase the H1B quota for the next three years. The President is expected to sign the bill within the next three days. Once the bill is in affect the H1B quota is increased from 115,000 to 195,000 for the fiscal years of 2000, 2001 and 2002. This also means that a substantial amount of last year's (fiscal year 2000) backlog will not be added to this year's ( began on October 1, 2000 for 2001) quota.