- January 11, 2013
- Category: H-1B Cap Count, H-1B Visas
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.