H-1B Cap Count Reached for FY-2013

On June 11, 2012, USCIS received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the statutory cap for FY-2013.  On June 7, 2012, USCIS also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption.   USCIS will reject petitions subject to the cap for H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY 2013 that are received after June 11, 2012. 

USCIS continues to accept petitions exempted from the cap and DOD cooperative research worker H-1B petitions and Chile/Singapore H-1B1 petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2013.

The H-1B nonimmigrant visa category allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations.  Unless determined to be exempt, H-1B petitions are subject to either the 65,000 annual cap or the 20,000 annual cap exemption.  By statute, H-1B visas are subject to an annual numerical limit, or cap, of 65,000 visas each fiscal year.  The first 20,000 petitions for these visas filed on behalf of individuals with U.S. master’s degrees or higher are exempt from this cap.  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 of 20,000. 

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