April 1, 2010, is the first day the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will begin accepting H-1B petitions filed on behalf of nonimmigrant workers for the 2011 fiscal year (“FY 2011”) starting October 1, 2010. The H-1B visa classification is for temporary employment of foreign professionals in specialty occupations, including but not limited to, information technology professionals, business analysts, financial managers, engineers, architects, and allied health professionals such as physical therapists, as well as fashion models. There is a yearly statutory cap of 65,000 H-1B approved petitions for the general category, of which 6,800 are reserved for Chile and Singapore Free Trade H-1B visas, resulting in only 58,200 for all other nationalities. There is an additional quota of 20,000 for foreign professionals with  advanced degrees (Master’s degrees or higher) from U.S. institutions.

Over the last several years, with the exception of 2009, H-1B filings have greatly exceeded the statutory quota, causing USCIS to invoke a lottery system at the start of the filing period. In 2009, due to the economic climate, H-1B filings did not meet the statutory quota until December 21, 2009. However, it is unknown at this time how the number of H-1B filings for FY 2011 will be affected as compared to the number of H-1B petitions received by USCIS in the past.

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