What provisions for the H-1B visa are included in the Senate bill?
Due to the current rapid exhaustion of the H1-B visa quota, the Senate has included in its bill an increase in the H-1B cap to 115.000 for three years and an increase up to 20% each year, in subsequent years, if the cap was completely used in the previous year. The cap for the following year will remain the same, unless it is completely exhausted again. For example, if the cap in 2011 is 115,000 and it is completely used, then in 2012 that cap will be 138,000. The cap in 2013 will also be 138,000, unless it was completely exhausted in 2012, in which case it will be 165,600. Also, the bill has provisions to broaden the cap exemptions to include all non-profit institutions, exempt all advanced degree holders from US universities (i.e. no 20,000 limit), create a 20,000 cap exemption for graduates of institutions of higher education from foreign countries, and exemptions for physicians with medical specialty certification.
