H-1B Cap Almost Reached

United States Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS) reported on Tuesday, November 22, 2011 that as of November 18, 2011 it has received a total of 61,800 petitions for H-1B applicants with Bachelor’s Degrees and 20,000 H-1B visa petitions for applicants with Master’s Degrees for the 2012 fiscal year; which began on October 1, 2011.

Each year employers in the United States seeking to hire professional employees are faced with restrictions on employment if their chosen employee happens to be a foreign national. The H-1B Employment based visa allows employers to hire individuals from foreign countries who have a Bachelor’s Degree or higher in a professional position for a professional wage. There are a total of 85, 000 H-1B visas available nation-wide each fiscal year, 20,000 for individuals with United States Master’s Degrees, and 65,000 for individuals with Bachelor’s or equivalent degrees.

This means that as of last Friday there were only an estimated 3,200 H-1B visas left for this fiscal year, and employers will not be eligible to file again until April 1, 2012 for the 2013 fiscal year beginning October 1, 2012.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=4b7cdd1d5fd37210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=73566811264a3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD