【深度剖析】避开H-1B赌局的一种选择：抽签豁免型H-1B

在当今的经济形势下，要寻找符合资质的，有才能的技术型员工的压力越来越大，因此在考虑雇佣外籍工人时，考虑所有的可能性很重要。这需要从审查雇主的公司业务以及申请人的移民背景着手去利用所有的移民选择来满足雇主的需求。

那么H-1B签证抽签豁免都有哪些要求？Jia Law Group的移民法领域的专家科洛杰大律师为大家带来了深度剖析。

As the U.S. and world economies have improved U.S. employers have been filing more H-1B petitions than ever for highly-educated and skilled foreign workers. During the financial year (FY) 2016, according to the last U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) annual report to Congress, a total of 398,718 H-1B applications were filed, and 345,262 were eventually approved. However, new H-1B applications are usually subject to a cap each financial year, limiting cap-subject H-1B visas to 65,000, plus an additional 20,000 for applicants with U.S. master’s degrees, for a total of 85,000. These applications are submitted about six months before the beginning of the next fiscal year, which means applications are usually filed around April 1st for capped H-1B visas that are allocated for the beginning of the fiscal year starting October 1st. 

随着美国经济的发展，美国雇主每年开始递交越来越多的高等教育外籍员工工作签证申请。根据美国移民局递交给国会的最新年度报告显示，在2016财年一共接收到了398,718份H-1B申请，一共有345,262份申请被最终批准。然而，正常的H-1B申请通常都受每一财年的配额限制，普通的H-1B签证配额被限制在65000个名额，再加上20,000个预留给美国研究生及以上学位的名额，加起来总共是85000个名额。这些申请通常在下一财年开始前的6个月被递交上去，即受配额限制的申请者通常是在4月1日左右递交于10月1日新财年开始生效的H-1B申请。

In recent years cap-subject applications have increased each year to the point where less than 50% of applications are accepted. For example, 199,000 petitions were filed for the FY 2018 annual cap, or more than twice the number of visas available, requiring that a random selection (the “H-1B lottery”) be performed to determine which petitions would be selected. Given that the most recent USCIS report shows that nearly 350 thousand H-1B visa petitions were approved during the 2016 financial year, although only 85,000 cap-subject visas were available, most of the applications must have been exempted from the annual cap. Cap exemptions allow employers to file an unlimited number of H-1B petitions at any time, even after the annual cap has been filed. How can employers and the skilled workers they want to hire qualify for these cap exemptions?

最近几年受配额限制的H-1B申请每年都在增长，然而只有不到50%的申请被受理。例如在2018财年，一共有199000份申请被受理，这个数字比签证配额的两倍还多，因此需要利用H-1B随机选取系统来抽取可以被审理的申请。参考最新的移民局消息，在2016财年一共批准了350000份H-1B申请，尽管只有85000份配额，但还是可以看到绝大部分申请还是属于豁免抽签型。配额豁免型H-1B允许雇主任何时间递交多份申请，甚至在递交了每年配额限制的申请后亦可以递交。 那么什么样的雇主和雇员符合免抽签型的要求？

Colleges and universities are eligible to apply for cap-exempt H-1B visas, and so are their affiliated institutions. Affiliated entities must show they are operated by the college or university, or somehow connected to the college or university though common control or a common board or federation, or otherwise affiliated as a member of an organization, branch, or subsidiary. High schools and school districts may also qualify for the exemption if they are part of a collaboration with a college or university. Private companies may also qualify for the exemption of the employee will physically work at the institution of higher education or affiliated nonprofit entity and the work fulfills the purpose of the nonprofit.

高校和大学以及他们的关联机构有资格申请豁免抽签型H-1B签证。关联企业需要证明他们由高校经营，或是与高校关联同样的管理机构或联合会，或以同机关委员，分支以及分公司的形式相互关联。如果高中和其校区和高校或者大学形成了关联关系同样可以符合免抽签的资质。如果雇员实际是为高校或者关联的非盈利机构工作，并且工作性质为非盈利的话，甚至一些私营企业雇员也可以获得免抽签资质。

Certain non-profits and government research organizations are exempt from the annual H-1B cap. The non-profit or government entity must be primarily engaged in basic or applied research. A private employer can show they are a non-profit usually by documenting their 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. Note that the job doesn’t necessarily have to be primarily research related, but the employer must be primarily engaged in research.

特定的非盈利组织以及政府研究机构可以获得免抽签资格。这些非盈利组织或政府机构需主要是从事研究工作。雇主可以通过申请501(c)(3)免税申请来证明其非盈利的性质。需要注意的是，这些工作不一定需要主要从事研究性质，但是雇主必须要主要以研究性质为主。

H-1B employees may work for more than one employer at a time if each employer obtains an H-1B approval from USCIS. An employee who is already working for a cap-exempt employer may also obtain concurrent H-1B employment with a cap-subject employer, without applying for a cap-subject H-1B, and may continue to work for that cap-subject employer as long as the cap-exempt employment is maintained. 

H-1B雇员可以为不止一个雇主工作如果每个雇主的申请都获得了USCIS的批准。一个已经在为抽签豁免型雇主工作的雇员可以在不提交配额H-1B申请的情况下为受配额限制的雇主工作，并且在免抽签H-1B状态一直有效的情况下一直为受配额限制的雇主工作。

Doctors who have obtained a waiver of the 212(e) home residency requirement are eligible for cap-exempt H-1B visas. Nurses may also be eligible for cap-exempt H-1B visas if their job requires a bachelor’s degree and they work for a hospital that is affiliated with a university (see Institutions of Higher Education or Affiliated Entities above).

持有212（e）回国服务期豁免的医生可以有H-1B抽签豁免资格。如果该职位需要一个本科学历，并且为大学附属的医院工作，护士同样也可以有H-1B抽签豁免资格。（具体可以参考以上提到的类型1）

One of the best ways for H-1B cap-subject employers to obtain the highly skilled talent they need is by hiring H-1B workers who are working for other cap-subject employers already or who have had cap-subject H-1B status recently. Even if the potential employee is not in H-1B status now, if they have had a cap-subject H-1B in the past six years they are still considered to have been counted against the cap and do not have to apply for the H-1B lottery again. As long as the employee has not used up all their H-1B time (the H-1B normally lasts up to six years), a new employer may file a new H-1B petition for them at any time and does not have to apply for the lottery on April 1st. The employee may even start employment as soon as the new H-1B petition is filed, without waiting for it to be approved, a policy called H-1B “portability”. However that it may be advisable, if there is any question about the approvability of the new petition, for the employee to wait for the approval of the new H-1B before giving notice to their previous employer.

对于H-1B配额限制的雇主来说，雇佣高技能雇员的其中一个好的办法便是直接雇佣曾经为其他受签证配额限制的雇主工作的H-1B雇员并近期持有H-1B的员工。甚至当该雇员不是H-1B的状态，如果他们在过去六年中曾经持有过H-1B签证，那么他们将被视为已经拥有了配额并且无需再进入H-1B抽签程序。只要该雇员没有用完H-1B有效时间（通常可以达到6年），那么新雇主就可以在任何时候为该雇员递交新的h-1b申请。 该雇员甚至可以在新的H-1B递交之时就去为新的雇主工作。但是出于对新申请的批准出现问题这一可能性的考虑，建议雇员还是等到拿到新H-1B批准信后再通知前雇主。