AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS

US Immigration Dept offers relief to students who need to work

Thursday, 1 May 2008

The USCIS has announced a work gap filler that will provide special authorization to those international students who have expired or expiring work authorization and a pending H1B Working visa for the USA.

Students and their employers who were caught up in the H1B quota and lottery issues, have rejoiced after this good news was revealed last month.

The H1B quota is the congressionally-mandated limit of 65,000 on the number of individuals who may be granted H-1B Working visa status during each fiscal year.

Attorney Darren B. Silver, the Managing Partner of Darren Silver & Associates, had opined that over 70,000 students and their current employers would be severely burdened by the Work Gap that the current regulation of that time imposed on H1B eligible students.

After campaigning vigorously for a common sense solution to the Work Gap problem, Mr Silver’s cause has been approved by the USCIS.

Under the prior regulations, the student’s authorized stay was extended, but not the employment authorization. This meant that the student could remain in the United States until the 1st of October 2008, when the approved H-1B employment began, but could not work until then.

On the 4th of April 2008 the UCIS announced a rule that would offer some relief to those students that were caught in the middle.

Under this new rule, the F-1 visa status of these students is automatically extended when he/she is the beneficiary of an H-1B petition for the next fiscal year with an October 1 employment start date filed on his/her behalf during the period in which H-1B petitions are accepted for that fiscal year.

The automatic extension will terminate if the USCIS rejects, denies, or revokes the H-1B petition.

If the H-1B petition filed on behalf of the student is selected, the student may remain in the United States and, if on post-completion OPT, continue working until the 1st of October start date indicated on the approved H-1B petition.

The student could benefit from this provision only if he/she has not violated his/her status.

As an additional showing of understanding, the USCIS announced on the 18th of April that they would also allow those students who have already filed their H1B's for Consular processing (as was the appropriate law at the time of the H1B filing) due to their upcoming status expiration to amend their petition.

To request a change of status in lieu of consular notification, petitioners (or authorized representatives) can send an email with the request to the USCIS service center where their petition is pending within 30 days of the issuance of the receipt notice.

If you would like to find out more about immigration to the United States, or want to work, live and/or study there, you can get more information on Migration Expert’s website.