On November 22, 2011, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) had received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 for fiscal year 2012 (“FY 2012″). As of October 19, 2011, USCIS had also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the “advanced degree” exemption. As a result, cap-subject H-1B applications for specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY 2012 are no longer accepted as of November 23, 2011.
However, USCIS will continue to accept petitions that are exempt from the cap, including DOD petitions and Chile/Singapore H-1B1 petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012.
Petitions filed for current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap will also continue be accepted.
The H-1B is a popular program used by U.S. businesses to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields. A lot of scientists, engineers and computer programmers, for examples, gain U.S. work visa under this category. The current annual cap on the H-1B category is 65,000.
Some petitions are exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption provided to the first 20,000 petitions filed for a beneficiary who has obtained a U.S. master’s degree or higher. Others are completely exempt from the numerical limits. Unless otherwise exempt from the cap, petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries who have obtained a U.S. master’s degree or higher will be counted against the regular cap once USCIS has received sufficient petitions to reach the advanced degree exemption.
Up to 6,800 H-1B numbers may be set aside each year from the cap of 65,000 during each fiscal year for the H-1B1 program, pursuant to the terms of the legislation implementing the U.S.-Chile and U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreements. Unused numbers in this pool are made available for H-1B use for the next fiscal year.
Because of the cap and time sensitivity, it is important for employers and employees to properly prepare and file H-1B petitions, and should consider seeking professional help from an experienced immigration lawyer.