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Question of Week
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Question:
My H-1B visa petition has been filed, may I begin working immediately?
Answer:
In general, work may not commence until the H-1B visa petition is approved. However, aliens who previously were issued an H-1B visa may accept new employment upon the filing of a new H-1B petition by a new employer, subject to final approval of the petition. In order to be eligible, (1) the applicant must have been lawfully admitted to the U.S.; (2) the new petition must have been filed before the expiration of the period of stay authorized by the Attorney General; and (3) the individual must not have been employed without authorization in the U.S. before the filing of such petition.
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| Free Teleseminar for Physicians!!! |
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Are you a J-1 physician, employer, or recruiter with questions about the immigration process for physicians, including permanent residence? Register for our popular physician Q&A briefings and get the latest and most accurate information about J-1 waivers, H-1B, and green cards. Join us for a free Q&A teleseminar on Thursday, December 18, 2008 starting at 7:00 p.m. CST. Click the register now link below to reserve your space: Register Now
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Weekly Newsletter |
November 28, 2008 |
Greetings!
Greetings:
Welcome back to Badmus Law Firm's newsletter focusing solely on issues affecting physicians. The topic of this week's Physicians' Newsletter is H1-B cap exempt options for physicians. Read on to learn more!!! |
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Do's and Don'ts for Physicians |
Dos and Don'ts
DO renew you passport timely so that it has a current validity date of at least six months at all times.
DON'T wait until getting ready to apply for a temporary visa to work and/or stay in the U.S to renew your passport. Certain temporary visas require passports to be valid for at lest six months at the time of filing. |
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H1-B cap exempt options for Physicians |
H-1B cap exempt options for Physicians
Currently, up to 65,000 H-1B visas (6,200 for workers from Chile and Singapore, 58,200 for all other nationalities) may be issued each fiscal year for professional workers. However, some workers are excluded from numerical limitation ("the cap") including:
· Physicians who receive a J-1 waiver of the two-year foreign residency requirement and agree to work in a medical shortage area.
· Workers who are employed by universities or colleges or by non-profit organizations affiliated with universities or colleges ("cap-exempt employers"). This is useful for physicians who use H-1B status to complete their residency for such institutions.
· Workers who will be employed by an employer that is subject to the cap but will form job duties with an exempted third-party employer. The qualifying third-party employment can occur in a variety of forms.
· Workers who already have H-1B status and applies for another H-1B with another employer is not subject to the cap.
However, if the worker obtained H-1B status through a cap-exempt employer and then seeks to change employment to an employer that is not cap-exempt, the new application will be subject to the cap. For example, a physician finishes his residency in H-1B status with a university hospital on June 30, 2008. He has a contract with a private facility to start work on July 15, 2008. His new employer will sponsor the H-1B visa but the petition will be counted towards the cap. If the cap has already been reached, the physician cannot work until October 1, 2008, assuming the employer files early enough.
Physicians who completed residency in J-1 status but returned home for two years as required OR who received a hardship or persecution waiver must also be mindful of H-1B cap issues.
In next week's newsletter, we will discuss O-1 visas for physicians. Look for your newsletter next Friday!!!
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