A ruling from a U.S. district court judge in New Jersey has blocked an attempt by H-1B visa opponents to stop an extension of student visas from one year to 29 months. The measure, which was put in place earlier this year, was a move that the Bush administration claimed would give students a better chance to get an H-1B visa. The 85,000-visa cap, which includes 20,000 visas for foreign workers with advanced degrees, is being reached before the close of the academic year, making it difficult for new graduates to get a new visa before their old visa expires.

The Programmers Guild, the Immigration Reform Law Institute and other groups sought an injunction to stop the visa extension, arguing that such a measurer is, in effect, a backdoor visa increase that will hurt U.S. workers.

U.S. District Court Judge Faith Hochberg denied a preliminary injunction sought by these groups based on their legal standing to seek an injunction. The judge noted that the parties could only show a “generalized grievance” not that they had been directly hurt by the student visa extension.

Hochberg wrote that there are "competing interests" to the claim by the plaintiffs: "that granting the preliminary injunction is consistent with the public interest in preserving jobs and wages for American workers" and that the preliminary injunction "would cause extreme hardship to lawfully present guest students, such as being forced out-of-status and facing deportation."

The judge ordered the two parties to file briefs by Nov. 14, 2008 as to "whether this case should be dismissed for lack of standing." Although the H-1B opponents can appeal the judge’s decision, the parties have not yet decided whether they will do so.