February 9, 2011 –
USCIS Reaches FY 2011 H-1B Cap

On January 27, 2011, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that it had reached the number of the statutory cap of H-1B Petitions for fiscal year (“FY 2011″) on January 26, 2011. Consequently, January 26, 2011 is the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2011. The final receipt date is the date on which USCIS determines that it has received enough cap-subject petitions to reach the limit of 65,000.  Properly filed cases will be considered, as received on the date that USCIS physically received the petition, not the date that the petition was postmarked.  USCIS will refuse any cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY 2011 that arrived after January 26, 2011.

USCIS has also advised that they will apply a computer-generated random selection process to all petitions that are subject to the cap and that were received on January 26, 2011. USCIS will use this process to select petitions needed to meet the cap and will reject all remaining cap-subject petitions not randomly selected and will return the accompanying fees.

Additionally, as of December 22, 2010, USCIS had 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. Exemptions from the annual quota cap may apply in instances of: requests for extensions of stay for current H-1B workers; amendments to H-1B petitions requesting a change in the terms of employment for current H-1B workers; and change of employer petitions for individuals already in H-1B status. In addition, petitions for new H-1B employment are not subject to the annual cap if the foreign professional will be employed at an institution of higher education or a related or affiliated nonprofit entity, or at a nonprofit research organization or a governmental research organization.

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.

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USCIS Reaches FY 2011 H-1B Cap