Published:  November 23, 2011

As of November 22, 2011, the allotment of 85,000 H-1B work visas for Fiscal Year 2012 (which includes 20,000 visas reserved for those receiving advanced degrees in the US) has been exhausted.  Thus, any H-1B petitions received by CIS after November 22, 2012 will be rejected, with all paperwork and filing fees returned to the filing party.

In the meantime, petitions involving workers that are otherwise exempt from the cap will continue to be accepted, including petitions to:

  • extend a current H-1B worker’s status in the U.S.;
  • 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.

Also exempt from the H-1B cap are prospective workers for various types of not for profit petitioning entities, such as institutions affiliated institutions of higher learning.  In the meantime, most parties interested in pursuing a petition for a new H-1B worker are left having to gear up for April 1, 2012, the first day an H-1B petition can be filed for fiscal year 2013, which starts on October 1, 2012.

PUBLISHED November 23, 2011 – “IMMIGRATION LAW FORUM”
Copyright © 2011, By Law Offices of Richard Hanus, Chicago, Illinois