H1B Cap Much Earlier than Anticipated Now that I've accepted my full time job offer at Amazon.com, we're trying to work through all the visa details. The U.S. only issues a fixed number of H1Bs for "new employment" each fiscal year, and once that number is reached, you're out of luck until next October. This year there are only about 1/3 as many H1Bs being issued as in 2003, and according to the article above from an immigration law firm, they are being used up faster than ever.

The people helping me at Amazon are worried that the cap will be reached very soon. There's a lot of paper work to pull together for the application, but it's hard when 1) School is closed for Christmas 2) Marks aren't finalized 3) You can't see your transcript because of $50 credit history that you paid but isn't yet reflected in Quest because school is closed.

This article from the same firm issued a week ago suggests that the issue isn't so urgent. USCIS (formerly INS) estimates H1Bs will run out in Spring, and will issue a firm projected date at the end of January (by which time my petition should be in).

I don't know why I don't just get a TN-1 NAFTA professional visa, which looks like so much less work.

A year ago, after working in the U.S. for two terms, getting in trouble for leaving the country without that stupid pink form, and all the other associated headaches, I remember how sweet it was to move to a job in Montreal without any such hassle. Just get on a plane and find a place to live.