USCIS Reaches H-1B Statutory Cap for Fiscal Year 2012 | Practical Law

USCIS Reaches H-1B Statutory Cap for Fiscal Year 2012 | Practical Law

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that as of November 22, 2011, it had received a sufficient number of new H-1B visa specialty occupation petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year 2012. In addition, as of October 19, 2011, the advanced degree exemption has been exhausted.

USCIS Reaches H-1B Statutory Cap for Fiscal Year 2012

Practical Law Legal Update 4-513-9561 (Approx. 3 pages)

USCIS Reaches H-1B Statutory Cap for Fiscal Year 2012

by PLC Labor & Employment
Published on 29 Nov 2011 • USA (National/Federal)
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that as of November 22, 2011, it had received a sufficient number of new H-1B visa specialty occupation petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year 2012. In addition, as of October 19, 2011, the advanced degree exemption has been exhausted.
On November 23, 2011, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that they have received:
  • A sufficient number of new H-1B specialty occupation petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 for fiscal year 2012 (as of November 22, 2011).
  • More than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf on individuals exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption (as of October 19, 2011).
Petitions will be considered received on the date that they are received by the USCIS, not the date they are postmarked. Therefore, any cap-subject petitions for fiscal year 2012, received by the USCIS after November 22, 2011, will be rejected. This means that new H-1B status for employees or prospective employees will not be granted between November 23, 2011 and September 30, 2012. The next time employers may file for new H-1B visas begins April 2, 2012 for H-1B status that will be effective on October 1, 2012, the beginning of the government's next fiscal year.
USCIS will continue to accept petitions that are:
  • Otherwise exempt from the cap (for reasons other than the prospective employee holding an advanced degree).
  • Filed on behalf of current H-1B workers, who have been counted previously against the cap, to either:
    • extend the time they can remain in the US;
    • change their terms of employment;
    • allow them to change employers; or
    • allow them to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.
For more information on the H-1B Cap, see Practice Note, The H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Classification: The H-1B Cap.