H-1B Alternatives Series: Concurrent H-1B Employment

In 2014, Massachusetts created the Global Entrepreneur in Residence Program (GEIR), a program meant to capitalize on the opportunities provided by concurrent H-1B employment.  Under this program, universities partnered with the Commonwealth to provide foreign entrepreneurs with relevant, part-time employment opportunities that carried cap-exempt H-1B status.  This part-time employment authorization then enabled the entrepreneurs to apply for a concurrent H-1B petition, which would also be cap-exempt, to allow them to work on getting their business off the ground.

GEIR was designed as a creative work around of the H-1B quota/lottery system.  Its genesis came from a 2008 memo issued by USCIS, which provided guidance on concurrent H-1B employment.  In this memo, USCIS clarified that an individual could be employed part-time by a cap-exempt employer while also being employed part-time by a cap subject employer, AND that second employer's H-1B petition would not be subject