H-1B Visas: Employers Start Preparing Now!

On June 11, 2012, USCIS received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the statutory cap for FY-2013.  The first date to file an FY-2014 H-1B petition would be April 1, 2013.  For FY-2014, my prediction is that the H-1B statutory cap will be met much earlier than June 2013.  Employers should therefore plan to file their Cap-Subject petitions in early April 2013.

I find it interesting that under the Immigration and Nationality Act —INA 214(g)(1)(A)–after FY-2003, the INA has frozen the H-1B Cap at a static 65,000 visas per year.  Notwithstanding the recession, our economy has certainly grown in that period.  Why has the H-1B Cap been frozen at a static 65,000 then?  I realize that we have domestic politics at play.  However, if we must have an H-1B Cap why not peg it to a dynamic figure rather than the static 65,000?  If our economy is growing at a certain pace, would we not want to have more H-1B visas to accommodate and encourage that growth?  This should be one of the reform items that Congress considers when it comes time for immigration reform.



Leave a Reply