Visa Restrictions for TARP/TALF Recipients

Originally published March 31, 2009

Keywords: TARP, TALF, H-1B visas, temporary employees, reduced H-1B filings, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Employ American Workers Act, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS

Immigration attorneys are typically in overdrive during the month of March, preparing new applications for H-1B (professional) visas for temporary employees.  For the last several years, the annual statutory quota of 85,000 petitions has been exceeded immediately upon the opening of the filing period on April 1, resulting in a lottery to determine who gets the coveted visas.

While the economic slowdown has dramatically reduced the anticipated number of H-1B filings this year, it is not the only new obstacle to hiring H-1B workers.  Buried in the recently enacted federal stimulus bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is the "Employ American Workers Act," a provision that makes it very difficult for employers that