US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that as of October 30, 2009, approximately 53,800 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been filed and received. It also announced that the 20,000 H-1B Advanced Degree Exemption cap had been met, and that all petitions filed for an individual with an advanced degree from a US academic institution will now be counted towards the general H-1B cap of 65,000. 

While the current annual H-1B cap is 65,000, it should be noted that 6,800 visas are set aside from the cap each year for the H-1B1 program that grants status to nationals of Chile and Singapore in accordance with Free Trade Agreements with each of these countries. This reduces the general H-1B cap to 58,200. Unused numbers in this pool of 6,800 visas are then applied to the general H-1B cap for use during the next fiscal year. USCIS has applied approximately 6,000 unused numbers from last year’s H-1B1 pool to this year's general H-1B cap. As such, even though 6,800 were subtracted from this year’s 65,000 cap, the unused numbers from last year’s pool have boosted available H-1B numbers to just under 65,000.

Last month, the demand for H-1B cap-subject petitions increased significantly to 6,100, which may be an indication that employers are slowly moving out of the economic crisis. Based on the increased demand for H-1B petitions and the closure of the 20,000 advanced degree exemption, it is anticipated that the H-1B cap will be met within the next 30-45 days. Consequently, employers should assess hiring needs immediately and expedite the filing of any H-1B cap-subject petitions before the cap closes. The next H-1B cap will open up for filing purposes on April 1, 2010 for H-1B petitions with a October 1, 2010 start date, so employers could face serious challenges in hiring highly-skilled professionals once this year's cap closes.

This entry was written by Ian Macdonald.