H-1B Cap Update


05/18/2009.  USCIS announced today that the number of H-1B cap cases filed to date reached 45,500 H-1B petitions of the congressionally  mandated 65,000 cases,  and approximately 20,000 additional master's cap cases out of the permissible 20,000 cases in this category.  They have also stated that they will continue to accept cases in both categories

4/20/2009.  USCIS provided an update today on the number of H-1B cap cases filed to date.  USCIS stated that they have received 44,000 H-1B petitions and 20,000 additional master's cap cases.  They have also stated that they will continue to accept cases in both categories.

4/09/2009.  USCIS  announced  that they have received 42,000 H-1B petitions counting towards the 65,000 H-1B cap and have received 20,000 applications towards the master's cap.

Since not all of the 20,000 masters cap applications are approvable, USCIS indicates that it will still continue to accept applications for both the H-1B and the masters caps until further update.

USCIS may still  perform a lottery of the filed applications and will set the cut off date at a later time. We are monitoring the progress and we will keep you updated.

4/08/2009.  USCIS  announced  that the H-1B cap has not been reached.  USCIS puts the estimates to only half of the needed  H-1B's to meet the general quota.  Also it confirms that USCIS  has received  just short of the needed  20,000 applications for the master's cap.

The communiqué  states that  USCIS may still  perform a lottery of the filed applications and will set the cut off date at a later time. We are monitoring the progress and we will keep you updated.  Read it first on our Blog or on our website.

04/06/2009.    The American Immigration Lawyers Association confirmed that USCIS issued a small number of H-1B cap receipt notices in error at both the California Service Center and the Vermont Services Center. This does not appear to be a significant error as far as we can tell at this time.  There  has been no reports on the number of H-1B cap petitions filed for this 2010 fiscal year. We will bring you updates as soon as they are available.

The number of H-1B cap petitions filed this year are expected to be substantially less than those filed in recent years due to the downturn in the economy. It is expected however that all H-1B visas will be used up during the fiscal year. Last year USCIS announced on April 07 2008 that is has received sufficient H-1B petitions to meet the mandated numerical limitation.