Law stated as of 05 Feb 2014 • USA (National/Federal)
Resources to assist employers filing H-1B petitions for foreign national workers.
H-1B visas are popular with employers because of their broad applicability, but new H-1Bs are limited to 85,000 each fiscal year (which runs from October 1st to September 30th). The 85,000 available new H-1B visas are allocated as follows:
65,000 for any qualifying H-1B worker, including up to 6,800 for citizens of Singapore or Chile who are granted H-1B1 status based on free-trade agreements with those countries.
20,000 for workers who have earned a master's degree or higher from a US academic institution.
Employers may begin requesting new H-1B visas six months before the fiscal year starts (April 1st), and may continue to file cap-subject H-1B petitions for as long as new H-1Bs remain available. In many years, however, including the past two fiscal y ears, the H-1B cap is met before the fiscal year even begins (see Legal Updates, USCIS Reaches H-1B Statutory Cap for FY 2014 and USCIS Reaches Statutory Cap for Fiscal Year 2013). Therefore, to maximize their access to the supply of new H-1Bs, employers with foreign workers who require H-1B status to begin or continue working for the employers should file the H-1B petitions as early as possible. Petitions for new H-1B visas in FY2015 may be filed (received by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)) beginning on Tuesday, April 1, 2014.
If approved, the H-1B status allows the foreign worker to be employed by the petitioning employer in the job described in the H-1B petition no earlier than October 1, 2014 (as requested in the petition) for up to three years, with the possibility for further extensions or amendments to the H-1B status (see Practice Note, The H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Classification: Validity Period of H-1B Approval).
Practical Law has a collection of resources to help employers develop strategies for preparing and filing H-1B petitions for their foreign workers. For an overview of the H-1B visa category and resources to help employers get started, see:
Employers that are unable to file an H-1B petition, or are unsuccessful in obtaining H-1B status, for their foreign workers may find alternative nonimmigrant visa status options in Practical Law's Key Nonimmigrant Visa Classifications Chart.