2013 H-1B Petitions Reaches Statutory Cap

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced June 12, 2012 that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2013. Yesterday, June 11, 2012, was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2013.

USCIS will consider properly filed cases as received on the date that USCIS physically receives the petition; not the date that the petition was postmarked. USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers if they arrive after June 11, 2012 and seek an employment start date in FY 2013.

As of June 7, 2012, USCIS already received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the ‘advanced degree’ exemption. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap.

In addition, petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap will not be counted toward the FY 2013 H-1B cap.  As such, USCIS will continue to accept and process these petitions to:

               extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the U.S.;

               change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;

               allow current H-1B workers to change employers; and

               allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.

U.S. businesses use the H-1 B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields such as scientists, engineers or computer programmers.

USCIS Will Continue to Accept FY 2013 H-1B Petitions

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced Monday, April 9, that it continues to accept H-1B nonimmigrant petitions that are subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2013 cap. The agency began accepting these petitions on April 2, 2012.

USCIS has received approximately 17,400 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap, and approximately 8,200 petitions toward the 20,000 cap exemption for individuals with advanced degrees.

USCIS will provide regular updates on the processing of FY 2013 H-1B petitions. These updates and helpful filing information can be found at USCIS’s website highlighting the H-1B program. Should USCIS receive the number of petitions needed to meet the cap, it will issue an update advising the public that the FY 2013 H-1B cap has been met as of a certain date, known as the “final receipt date.” The date USCIS informs the public that the cap has been reached may differ from the actual final receipt date.

If necessary, USCIS may randomly select the number of petitions received on the final receipt date that will be considered for final inclusion within the cap. The agency will reject petitions subject to the cap that are not selected, as well as those received after the final receipt date. Whether a petition is received by the final receipt date will be based on the date USCIS physically receives the properly filed petition, not the date that the petition is postmarked.

Cases for premium processing (faster processing of certain employment-based petitions and applications) of H-1B petitions filed during an initial five-day filing window are undergoing a 15-day processing period that began April 9. For all other H-1B petitions filed for premium processing, the processing period begins on the date that the properly filed petition is physically received at the correct USCIS Service Center.

Meanwhile, petitions filed by employers who are exempt from the cap, as well as petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap within the past six years, will not count toward the cap.

U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Such workers include scientists, engineers, and computer programmers, among others.