President Clinton signed The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act of 2000 (S.2045) on October 17, 2000. In broad scope, the new law increases the ability of U.S. employers to bring skilled workers into the country and to retain those who are already here for longer periods of time and, in some cases, permanently.
Specifically:
1. H-1b Cap:
a. The H-1B cap is increased to 195,000 for each of fiscal years 2001, 2002 and 2003.
b. All H-1B cases approved in 1999 after the cap was reached and before October 1, 1999 are to be counted against the old FY 1999 cap and all cases filed before September 1, 2000 are to be counted against the FY 2000 cap, regardless of when they are approved. This will ensure that the new caps will be fully available for new applications.
c. Nonimmigrants employed by higher education institutions and their related or affiliated nonprofit entities and individuals employed by nonprofit research organizations and government research organizations are exempted from the H-1B cap altogether.
d. A nonimmigrant will no longer be counted against the H-1B cap if the nonimmigrant has held H-1B status in the previous six years, unless the individual would be authorized for a new six-year period of stay at the time the petition is filed.
e. H-1B visas will now be more portable, in that immigrants will be able to change jobs upon the filing of a new petition by the new employer, instead of having to wait the four to six weeks for the new petition to be approved.
f. H-1B nonimmigrants for whom an I-140 has been filed and whose labor certification of I-140 was filed at least 365 days prior may obtain extensions of their H-1B status beyond the six-year maximum, in one-year increments, until their adjustment of status or immigrant visa application is decided.
2. Per Country Limit:
a. Unused employment-based immigrant visas in a calendar quarter will be allocated in subsequent quarters without regard to per country limits. In addition, any employment-based immigrant visas that were available but unused in fiscal years 1999 and 2000 are to be "banked" for further fiscal years if the demands for employment-based visas exceed the overall cap for the year.
b. An individual who has an I-140 filed on his or her behalf and who would be subject to per country limits may extend his or her nonimmigrant status until the adjustment of status application is decided, as long as an I-140 has been filed at least 365 days prior to the expiration of the H-1B status.
c. Individuals who have applied for an adjustment of status and whose case has been pending for 180 days or more will be able to change jobs or employers without affecting the validity of their I-140 or underlying labor certification, as long as the new job is in the same or similar occupational classification as the job in the original petition.
In a related bill, the H-1B education and training fee was increased from $500 to $1,000.
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