H-1B FISCAL YEAR 2015 CAP SEASON BEGINS ON APRIL 1, 2014

By Norka M. Schell, NYC Business Immigration Lawyer
Law Offices of Norka M. Schell, LLC
Phone (212)564-1589
Website: www.lawschell.com

U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized field, including but not limited to scientist, engineers, or computer programmers. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Cap season begin on April 1, 2014.

When qualification is based on an alien filing a position in a specialty occupation, the position to be filled by the alien must required the services of someone who has the credentials for that specialty occupation. The requirement that an H-1B position be in a specialty occupation can be easily met in most cases because the position involved has already clearly been held by the Service to be in a profession (which is the definitional equivalent of a specialty occupation). In those cases, the employer needs to do little to document the nature of the position. This rule of thumb applies to the following positions: engineers, accountants, lawyers, scientists, librarians, psychologists, financial analysts, systems analysts, architects, teachers, professors, journalists, editors, technical publications writes, management consultants, market research analysts.

There are gray areas around the fringes of some of these occupational titles. For example, there may be "teaching" positions in some private schools or day-care settling that are not documented as specialty occupations. If the setting is marginally related to the traditional school environment, submission of some documentation that professional teaching credentials are required would be a good idea.

The employer must do more than simply name a job title from the above list expect that classification as specialty occupation will follow. The employer must state the degree requirement and also give a description of the job duties that makes it clear that the job title fits the actual duties to be performed by the alien. As long as the job duties described by the employer fit the job title of a specialty occupation, however, the employer in these cases should not need to submit any supporting documentation regarding the nature of the position.

For assistance with your H-1B non-immigrant visa petitions for FY 2015, please contact our office or visit our website.