Early birds get the H1B visa, say US immigration experts

Exhaustion of the H1B visa quota of 65,000 in May 2006, led many Indian companies, especially the small and medium sized ones in the IT sector, who wanted to send their professionals to the US for participating in on-site projects to put their plans on hold.

These companies can either wait until next year and try again or they can, with advance planning and well thought-out strategy, avoid getting into such situations all. "the trick is to plan early by anticipating projects in the US so that the H1B quota limits do not affect a company. Also there are other categories of visas, which companies should explore," says Venkat Ramineni, ED, VisaPro Immigration Services LLC, USA.

Once the cap on the H1B visas was reached, Indian companies did not have any choice but to wait for another year. So companies would do well by not just focusing on the H1B visas but by also looking at various visa category options, suggest Ramineni.

"Companies may begin applying for the H-1B visa six months before the actual start date of the visa. Since the beginning of the FY2007 is October 1, 2006, employers can apply as early as April 1, 2006 for the FY 2007 cap," Ramineni said. Sonal Bhatawadekar, Joint Director, STPI Pune said though the onsite work component was declining companies still had a 30% on-site presence and visas were an issues with many companies. Around 200 representatives of IT companies in Pune made a beeline for a meet on US immigration to help Indian companies and professionals better informed about changes in the immigration policy and procedures.

When it comes to visas the size of a company does not matter, says Thomas Joy, a US-based immigration attorney.

"Having worked on of cases two people companies to large MNCs with 20,000 people it was important that the applicant meet all the qualifications and had specialized skills," Joy said.

MOVING FAST

• The trick is to plan early by anticipating projects in the US so that the H-1B quota limits does not affect a company
• Once the cap on the H1B visas was reached, Indian companies did not have any choice but wait for another year