Articles Attorney Johansson writes a legal column for the newspaper "NORDSTJERNAN" or Swedish Press. The publication is the oldest Swedish-American publication, established in 1872 in New York and serves the Swedish-American community on a nation-wide basis, and "NORDEN ", an east-coast based Finnish-American weekly newspaper and internet publication published in New York and distributed all over the United States. Bad times means GOOD times for the H-1B visa The recession and the lingering effects thereof have had a "positive" effect on the availability of H-1B visas. In 2009 the last available visa was approved in December of that year, and 2010 will prove no different. Compare this to the situation before the recession hit when available visas used to disappear within 24 hours after the start of the application period. Why is this so important? The H-1B visa is the classification of choice for most corporations when bringing foreign employees/specialists to work in the United States. When the number of visas dropped in 2003 from 195,000 to 65,000 it proved to be devastating for great many companies here in the U.S., and abroad not being able tobring in essential specialists to help the companies to compete and survive in the market place. As for 2011; The economy is slowly turning around and as the optimism grows so will the demand for H-1B visas. The next opportunity to apply for H-1B visas is April 1, 2011, for positions starting October 1, 2011. I strongly recommend that companies and individuals start preparing for their filings well in advance. You have an excellent opportunity to apply for an available H-1B visa this spring, but do not count on getting a visa in June and certainly not in December 2011. Please Note:  For applicants with a U.S. Master degree there are an additional 20,000 visas available every (fiscal) year. The H-1B classification :   HIGH LIGHTS *  Specialty Occupation *  Bachelor Degree or the equivalent, or at least 12 years experience in the field *  Duration of stay up to 6 years *  Under the classification the visa holder can apply for a green card *  Family members can join *  Using premium processing you can have your visa processed and approved within 16 working days, thereby avoiding months of waiting for a decision.