It is time to gear up for the fiscal year H-1B season again.  As you may know, the H-1B numbers for last year’s quota ran out in December.  Although we can never predict what will happen this year, we have spoken to many of our corporate clients, most of whom, unlike last year, intend to hire additional employees over the next several months.  Our very unscientific conclusion is that the demand for H-1B visas may be higher this year.  The safest strategy to assure that your company can hire the H-1B workers it needs is to assess your hiring needs as early as possible, and to file any required H-1B petition as close to April 1 as able.

As of December 21, 2009, USCIS has received sufficient petitions to reach the statutory cap for FY2010.  USCIS has 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 cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY2010 that are received after December 21, 2009.  USCIS will apply a computer-generated random selection process to all petitions that are subject to the cap and were received on December 21, 2009.

Please contact us with any questions.

Employers may find out as early as next week whether the annual quota for H-1B visas for 2009 has been reached.  According to the last official count, announced December 15, reflecting H-1B visa petitions filed as of last Friday, December 11, 2009, there are about 2100 FY H-1B visa numbers remaining of the annual allotment of 65,000 visas and 20,000 additional visas for holders of U.S. master’s or higher degrees.   Once the USCIS announces it will no longer accept cap subject H-1B visa petitions, employers needing to obtain H-1B visas will not be able to file H-1B visa petitions until April 1, 2009, with the earliest requested start date under the H-1B of October 1, 2010, the beginning of the government’s new fiscal year.