The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed that it has reached the congressionally mandated 65,000 visa H-1B cap for fiscal year 2018.
The agency has also received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to meet the 20,000 visa US advanced degree exemption, also known as the master’s cap.
USCIS will now reject and return filing fees for all unselected cap-subject petitions that are not duplicate filings. It will, however, continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. It should be kept in mind that USCIS suspended premium processing on 3rd April for up to six months for all H-1B petitions, including cap-exempt petitions.
Petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap, and who still retain their cap number, will also not be counted toward the congressionally mandated FY 2018 H-1B cap.
USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions filed to:
– Extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the United States;
– 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.
US businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in occupations that require specialised knowledge.
Article published 12th April 2017