On the INTERNATIONAL front, David Nachman, Esq., one of the Managing Attorneys at the NPZ Law Group, recently returned from working remotely in India. He made several presentations about new developments in the business and family immigration arenas. Further, he spoke with and met with numerous politicians and dignitaries on this trip. Of special interest was his presentation to businesspersons in Gujarat about the importance for India to implement an E visa classification. Mr. Nachman told the attendees how it did not make any sense that Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (but not India) allow the E visa classification. Michael Phulwani, Esq. and David Nachman, Esq. continue to actively work to present a proposal for the E visa to the Office of the Prime Minister in India. The E visa option is now even more of a cutting-edge issue in light of H-1B visa usage.

On the DOMESTIC front, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that they have reached the "H-1B cap" for fiscal year 2016. This happened in just seven (7) days after the April 1st filing date. It is reported that U.S. employers filed more petitions for H-1B visas to hire a skilled foreign worker then the entire year's allocation of visas available under the current law. Also, it is reported that this year's filings broke records. It is great that so many H-1B visas were filed because it signals a strong economy (at least projected for the Fall).

Every year, U.S. employers seeking highly-skilled foreign professionals submit their applications for the pool of H-1B visas that the USCIS makes available starting on April 1st. Congress has set a statutory limit of 65,000 visas for new hires, and 20,000 additional visas for foreign professionals who graduate with a Master's (or Doctorate) from a qualifying U.S. University. In recent years, demand for H-1B visas has exceeded supply and the cap has been quickly reached. USCIS also noted that it received more then the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the U.S. advanced degree exemption. As in the past, USCIS will use a lottery, to randomly select the petitions to meet the caps of 65,000 visas for the general category and 20,000 for the advanced degree exemption.

The exhaustion of the yearly "H-1B cap" in a matter of days signals that our immigration laws and policies are detached from business and economic demands. We reiterate that Congress needs to recognize that the H-1B and other temporary nonimmigrant visa programs play an important role growing and innovating the U.S. economy and enabling U.S. businesses to compete for global talent. Arbitrary caps and quotas continue to hamper innovation and motivation. The elimination of quotas and artificial caps will allow our Nation to keep pace with countries that welcome entrepreneurs and "job creators" with open arms.

Our fingers remain crossed for those who are "playing" the lottery. Of course, we all pray for the day that we do not have to see arbitrary determinations being made with regard to the success of one type of industry over another. Think about it . . . A lottery will decide whether or not the IT Sector will exceed the Manufacturing Sector in productive growth next year. Should not a "free market" exist whereby all sectors should be able to grow equally?

For more information about the H-1B nonimmigrant visa, marriage cases, waivers, visitor or student visas, administrative processing or other ways that the immigration law staff at Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group can be of assistance to you, your family, your colleagues or your friends, please feel free to contact us by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 201-670-0006 (x107).