Under current law, a special exemption exists for holders of U.S. Master's degrees. Specifically, the law allocates an additional 20,000 H-1Bs for holders of U.S. Master's degrees. This means that holders of U.S. Masters degrees are first counted against the quota of 20,000, and then after that quota runs out, they are counted against the regular quota.
For fiscal 2008, the U.S. Master's degree quota ran out a few weeks after the regular quota ran out, i.e., on April 30, 2007.
Current law defines an individual who qualifies under this special quota as follows: ""has earned a master's or higher degree from a United States institution of higher education (as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))...." INA 214(g)(5)(C)
It is important to note that an H-1B applicant does not actually have to be relying on the U.S. Master's degree for the H-1B petition. For example, if an H-1B applicant holds a bachelor's degree in computer science, and a U.S. Master's Degree in Music, he or she could apply for an H-1B for a computer programmer position, and still rely on the unrelated, U.S. Master's Degree in Music for quota purposes.
H1B
Currently, I am completing my MBA and interested to know my possibilities to switch from F1 to H1B. Currently I have no sponser.
Thanks
H1B visa in a private setting
Currently, I am on H1B visa for a non-profit organization (Hospital) as a resident. i would appreciate if you let me know whether I can apply for H1b visa starting November 2009 as a employee at a private urgent care facility (with no affiliations with non-profit institution).
Also, I finished my Master's in U.S. in 2003. How long does the 20,000 H1b visa quota remain valid?
Thank you
H-1B quota numbers still available
According to the USICS: as of May 11, 2009, approximately 45,000 H-1Bcap-subject petitions had been received by the USCIS, out of the 65,000 cap(minus set asides of 6,800 for Chilean and Singaporean H-1B1s). In addition, approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanceddegree cap exemption had been filed, out of the 20,000 advanced degree cap;however, the USCIS continued to accept advanced degree cap cases under the advanced degree cap because it accepts a number of cases above the actual limit since not all cases are approved. In any event, if you are interested in accepting employment for a private urgent care facility (with no affiliations), then if you wish to apply under the quota: you should proceed immediately in order to have a chance of falling within the quota. Of course, under current policies, if you were to accept concurrent employment, then there would be a possibility to use the current rules, even if the quota is reached (however, then you wouldn't be counted under the quota, which would mean that you would have to continue to worry about quota issues for future H-1B employments).