H-1B Cap Reached On Opening Day

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the cap for H-1B petitions for FY 2008, which begins on October 1, 2007, has been met!

As of April 2, 2007, all 58,200 available H-1B visa numbers for FY 2008 have been depleted and any cap-subject petitions received after April 3rd will be rejected and returned with filing fees. Under USCIS regulations, petitions received on April 3rd will be included in a computer-generated random-selection process.

The number of H-1B cases filed is staggering. USCIS claims that as of late afternoon on April 2nd, it had received approximately 150,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions. Because of this large volume, the results of the random selection process will not be known for several weeks.

As for the additional 20,000 H-1B visa numbers reserved for foreign nationals who have earned a U.S. master's or higher degree, USCIS does not yet know how many of these types of petitions are mixed in with those cases already received. Therefore, we can expect a future notice from USCIS regarding the cap for these types of petitions...