Congress Passes New H-1B Bill!
On October 17, 2000, former President Clinton signed a new
immigration law called the "American Competitiveness in the
Twenty-First Century Act," known as "AC21," and it is
now in force. This bill was strongly supported by the high-tech
industry in the United States. It has many important features which
should help skilled workers enter the United States and stay in the
United States during Green Card processing. These features include:
- Current H-1B workers who have been offered new H-1B jobs can
begin work for the new employer as soon as the new petition is
filed. This is known as "H-1B portability." There are
three requirements: (1) previous H-1B status, (2) lawful entry,
(3) no unlawful employment since the last entry.
- Under current law, there is a 7% per-country limitation on
immigrant visas. This is why there has been such a long waiting
period for Chinese and Indian immigrants in the EB-2 and EB-3
categories. The new law does not eliminate the per-country limit.
However, it will make all UNUSED immigrant visas allocated to
other countries available to Chinese and Indian immigrants.
- The new bill allows H-1B's who have used up their six years in
the U.S. to STAY in the U.S. and work (1) if one year has gone by since they started the
Green Card process by filing a labor certification or I-140; or (2) they have an approved I-140, and they
are waiting for their priority date to become current.
- Finally, the new law says that a person who has filed for
adjustment of status, and has not gotten a Green Card after six
months, can change jobs without giving up the Green Card. This is
now being called "I-485 portability." The new job must be in the
"same or similar" occupation as the old one.
Now that this bill is signed into law, you can start the Green Card
process even if you have been in the United States in H status for
almost five years, and remain in the U.S. until you have your Green
Card. If you haven't started
yet because you thought it was too late, contact us now.
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