Tag Archives: h1b visa

US Immigration & Employment Trends 2009

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Whether you are searching for job and want to be sponsored on an H1B visa, E3 visa, L1 visa, TN visa, J1 visa, H2B visa, F1 Visa OPT, Green Card or indeed any other US Visa, it is important to be wary of current migration and employment trends within the United States to know where to best find a job.

Of course many people on the US visas we mention above have been laid off in 2009 and have since found subsequent employment. And others, despite the gloomy economic climate, have continued to search for employment and sponsorship from within the US and from afar.

Now as 2009 is drawing to a close we can look at some of the recent patterns and movements of people (both US citizens and immigrants) to different parts of the country in search of better opportunities. As we write this today, the most recent US unemployment rate is hovering just above the 10% mark, which is at a level not seen for close to 30 years. On top of that what many believe the true unemployment rate to be given many people have been forced to settle for part-time work or have given up look entirely, is closer to the 17% mark.

Now a recent New York Times interactive unemployment chart we highlighted shows that this unemployment is not distributed equally and that if you are college or even higher educated and in certain age brackets, the rates for your demographic is far lower. Given the typical immigrant to the US is highly educated and under 40, the employment prospects are far brighter.

What we haven’t illustrated before is the geographical changes as a result of this nearly 2 year long recession we have experienced in the US. In 2009 for example;

  • Texas (already the 2nd largest state in the US) received the greatest population growth in 2009, adding 478,000 new people
  • Texas’ population is now 24.8 million and has continued a trend for most of this decade leading the US in population growth
  • About half of the 2008-09 population growth in Texas was due to migrants both US based from other states and foreigners from overseas or previously residing in other US states
  • Texas only went into recession itself in mid 2008 a full 6 months after the US as a whole did in December 2007
  • Texas’ unemployment rate remained at least one full point below the US during most of this recession and currently is at around 8% which is 2 points below the national rate
  • In Texas in October and November there was a net gain of 70,000 positions compared to a National drop of 122,000 in this same period
  • Finance, Health and Education were the main drivers of this employment growth for Texas
  • Overall in 2008, while the US lost over 3 million jobs, Texas gained around 61,000 positions
  • Elsewhere California (381,000), North Carolina (134,000), Georgia (131,000) and Florida (118,000) had population gains in 2009
  • California remained the most populous state with 37 million and the US as a whole grew to 307 million people (annual increase of 0.86%)
  • Popular destinations for immigrants like New York and other North East locations have higher or equivalent unemployment rates than the National Average

So as you can see there have been a lot of interesting changes in the US throughout the course of 2009 and we hope this type of information will help guide your decision about where you might like to work, live and study in the US

CJ

H1B Visa FY2010 December Final Update

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As we noted in both our H1B Visa October update and H1B Visa November update as well as our General US Immigration update earlier this month, the H1B visa season was effectively extended to fill the FY2010 quota.

However as you would have noticed in these 3 updates, the H1B visa quota which was so stagnant for so long during 2009, was fast filling up at the end of the year. Now nearly at the end of the calendar year of 2009, just before Christmas, on December 22, 2009, the USCIS has announced that December 21, 2009 was the last date for accepting H1B visa petitions.

The USCIS will apply a computer-generated random selection process to all petitions that are subject to the cap and were received on Dec. 21, 2009.  USCIS will use this process to select petitions needed to meet the cap.  USCIS will reject, and return the fee, for all cap-subject petitions not randomly selected.

Therefore the FY2010 H1B visa allotment as it stand is effectively over, although there is a small chance that enoough of these petitions may be rejected such that there may be some available visas. Although usually the USCIS accepts a greater amount of petitions to account for this fact, so this is very unlikely.

This means that if you have a prospect employer for the H1B visa you will have to wait until the FY2011 H1B visa season begins on April 1, 2010 to file your petition via your sponsor employer. It is still now the best time to get everything organized such that you give yourself the best chance for this to happen in time as there is always a lot to organize. So if you have been searching for employment do NOT give up your search.

It should be noted that H1B visa petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap will not be counted towards the congressionally mandated FY 2010 H-1B cap. Therefore, USCIS will continue to process petitions filed to:

  • Extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the United States.
  • Change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers.
  • Allow current H-1B workers to change employers.
  • Allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.