Posted on: 04-05-05 15:40:20
Quote:As far as I know, only teachers at the grad level are exempt from the quota - school teachers are not.
Orginally posted by DiogenestheCynic
PratickmThanks a lot for all the answers. Is that true, that teachers are exempt from the quota? Does it include school teachers?
School teachers are particularly difficult to get H-1B because of timing issue.
CIS does not issue H-1Bs before October, which means the school will have to file latest by the previous Jan.
A lot of the time it is just too much trouble for schools just to get a high-school or primary school teacher.
But technically, yes, the option is available.
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"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."
-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"
Quote:
Orginally posted by pratickm
CIS does not issue H-1Bs before October, which means the school will have to file latest by the previous Jan.
Thanks again.
Could you explain that a little better?
Actually I know someone who is currently teaching in the US on J1. Having reached the end of the contract, he wants to convert the status to H1 and is now looking for someone to sponsor the H1.
How would applying in January have helped him?
Quote:
Orginally posted by pratickm
A lot of the time it is just too much trouble for schools just to get a high-school or primary school teacher.
But isn't there an acute shortage of teachers in the US? Or is the shortage only in a particular category.
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Diogenes
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The Cynic
Quote:
Orginally posted by DiogenestheCynic
Could you explain that a little better?
CIS starts issuing H-1Bs for the current year in October.
First they will issue H-1Bs filed in the *previous* year which could not be approved because the quota ran out.
Then they will turn to the applications filed in the current year.
In the past years, the quota has not been an issue because it was temporarily raised to 195,000 by the Clinton Administration.
Last year, they did not renew that increase, so it fell back to the old number of $65,000.
So now we have the quota problems again.
The issue with school teachers is that the timing needs to coincide with the school terms.
There is obviously no point in having a teacher H-1B approved in the middle of a term.
However, CIS H-1B processing cannot be predicted like that.
Some petitions take 2 months, some 6, and some more than a year if the quota ran out.
Schools cannot subject themselves to this kind of uncertainty.
Quote:
Actually I know someone who is currently teaching in the US on J1. Having reached the end of the contract, he wants to convert the status to H1 and is now looking for someone to sponsor the H1.
How would applying in January have helped him?
What the school board would have to do is file as early as possible, latest by Jan.
Then put a start date on the petition as the start date of the term.
And pray that the application will be approved in time for the start of the term.
A new option that opened up for H-1B aspirants in the past 2 years is the "premium processing", which gurantees a decision in 15 business days.
It costs $1000 extra.
So if the school board is willing to invest the additional $1000, then it makes sense to file as early as possible, put the required start date and pay the extra $1000 for the premium processing.
And hopefully, it can be approved on time.
Note that the premium processing is different from the quota - if the quota is over, it won't help you.
Quote:Sure, but CIS hasn't tuned its case processing depending on shortages - they work at their own pace.
But isn't there an acute shortage of teachers in the US? Or is the shortage only in a particular category.
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"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."
-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"
