The legendary H-1 lottery deadline is fast approaching and candidates are scrambling for job offers and immigration lawyers. With less than two weeks to go, people are rushing to get their cases prepared in time for April 1st, 2009, the day of the H-1 lottery for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010: winners of the lottery will be able to work as of October 1st, 2009. The US immigration system is composed of visas and Green Cards: one of the best known is the H-1 visa, also called the H-1B visa and is for people with a 4-year degree or equivalent. There are 65,000 H-1 visas available for issuance annually; in FY 2001 through 2003, that number was 195,000. Excluded from the count are people who work at universities and non-profit organizations. Of the 65,000 H-1 visas, 1400 are reserved for Chilean nationals, and 5400 are reserved for nationals of Singapore. Renewals are not counted against the cap. The H-1B visa requires a Specialty Occupation, defined as a field requiring theoretical or technical expertise in a specialized field. The only exception to the rule is that it also allows for fashion models.

In the past, people could apply on or after the first of April, and there was no rush past a couple of months. Recently, however, the first day of April has caused such a rush of applications that the annual quota is exceeded on the first day of applications. The H-1 visa is one of the few visas that allows for dual intent and people with this visa may apply for a Green Card while being on this visa.

Article courtesy of Kennedy Information Recruiting Trends providing leading edge insights and strategies for the recruiting professional