5/4/2006

The H-1B dependent employers, who are mostly consulting firms, may be forced to employ H-1B aliens in one of two categories in order to avoid the "No U.S. Worker Displacement Attestation" requirement : $60,000 or Higher Salary, and Master's Degree or Higher Degree Holder.

For these firms, the chances for hiring a bachelor's degree holder become slimmer in the future in order for them to stay in business for the two reasons. First, they cannot afford the no displacement attestations because of the potential high risk involved. Second, the new law affords them 20,000 additional H-1B numbers for alien U.S. master's degree holders that are not subject to the H-1B annual cap.

The bachelor's degree holders' green card opportunities become proportionally narrow in the future for two reasons: First is the reduced H-1B employment opportunities for this group. The second is the upcoming EB-3 immigrant visa cut-off dates for people from India, China, and Philippines. 

In the event that certain employers will have to go for the H-1B petition option as a H-1B dependent employer, they should keep in mind that the new law will not reinstate the "Recruitment Attestation" requirement which was another requirement for the H-1B dependent employers. Recruitment attestation is similar to the labor market test requirement in the permanent labor certification applications which imposed on employers the obligation to prove that it had tested the labor market for the position and the employer failed to located a qualified U.S. worker who was available for the job.