Reminder: H-1B Work Visa Quota Opens for New Filings on April 1

One of the most popular U.S. work visas, the H-1B, will start accepting filings for new H-1B employment on April 1, in exactly one week.     Pursuant to each yearly H-1B quota, new H-1B filings can be filed on April 1, at the earliest, for a starting date of employment on or after October 1.

The H-1B Quota and Expectations for This Year

When the H-1B visa category was created in 1990, Congress imposed an annual cap on the number of new H-1B visas which can be issued.  Although the cap has varied through the years, it is set to 65,000 per year plus 20,000 for graduates of U.S. masters programs for the new fiscal year (FY2012) starting on October 1, 2011.

As discussed above, the H-1B cap “opens” on April 1, 2011 and will remain open for new H-1B filings until the 65,000 H-1B limit is reached.  While it is impossible to predict exactly when the FY2012 H-1B cap will be reached, it is helpful to provide some context.  For FY2009, filing made on or after April 1, 2008, caused the H-1B cap to be reached in eight (8) days.   For the FY2010, the H-1B cap was open between April 1, 2009 and December 22, 2009 and for last year, FY2011, the H-1B cap was open between April 1, 2010 and January 25, 2011.

Conclusion

As a result, and due to the slow economic recovery, while we expect a robust H-1B filing season this spring, we anticipate that H-1B visa demand would be similar to last year when the H-1B cap was open for eight months.   Throughout the H-1B season, and as early as mid-April, we will be providing updates on the number of H-1B cap filings and will be revising (hopefully by making them more accurate) our estimates of how long the H-1B cap would last.  To ensure you receive these updates, please sign up to our free weekly newsletter.  If you wish to start a new H-1B work visa petition under this year’s quota, or if our office can be of any help, please contact us.