NEW H-1B LAW:
TEXT AND ANALYSIS

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INS issued its regulations on the new H-1B legislation, concerning the payment of the additional $500 fee beginning December 1, 1998. The regulations, state that the total amount of fees to be submitted to INS should be submitted in ONE check for $610. See the full text of the regulations. The I-129W form referred to in the regulation permits certain employers to file for exemptions of the $500 surcharge. The form is available to be downloaded and printed.

View the complete text of the H-1B law as signed by President Clinton on October 21, 1998.

If the full text version puts you to sleep, you might wish to read the excellent section-by-section summary of the H-1B law and the highlights of the law, both of which were prepared by the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Also useful are Senator Abraham's (R-MI) remarks in the Congressional Record of October 21, 1998 which serve as the conference report for the new law.

To read Senator Abraham's comments, you will first need to download the Adobe Acrobat reader.

Representative Lamar Smith's (R-TX) comments relating to the new law in the House of Representatives on November 12, 1998 demonstrate a markedly different viewpoint than that expressed by Senator Abraham.

On January 5, 1999, the Department of Labor issued proposed regulations to implement the new law. Be forewarned, these proposed rules are extremely long (over 300K). The proposed rules list 59 questions raised by the new law. You may wish to read the these questions in order to get the favor of the proposed regulations without having to spend several hours reading nearly 100 pages worth of legal material.

To see the progress of the bill from July 29 to its passage on October 21, 1998, click on

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