New H-1B visa petitions (including change of status petitions) can be filed with the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services beginning April 1, 2017 for an effective start date of October 1, 2017. H-1B petitions are accepted on a “first-come-first-serve” basis, and the demand for H-1B visas is expected to be very high again this year. We therefore plan to file all cap-subject Petitions on April 1, 2017. As preparation can be time-consuming, employers should begin the filing process as early as possible. If your company is seeking to hire H-1B cap-subject professional foreign workers and has not already initiated the process with us, you should contact OGC’s Immigration Team immediately.
As you may be aware, U.S. businesses use the USCIS H-1B visa program to employ temporary professional foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialty occupations. The position must require at least a bachelor’s degree or higher, the H-1B applicant must have at least the specific bachelor’s degree (or its equivalent), and the employer must conform to substantial record keeping requirements.
The current annual cap on the H-1B category is 65,000, and there are an additional 20,000 H-1B visas available for petitions filed on behalf of foreign national workers who have earned a U.S. master’s degree or higher. (These cap numbers remain unchanged with the new administration, at least for this year.) Some petitions may be exempt from the H-1B cap, such as if the foreign national is already working in the U.S. in H-1B status for your company or for another cap-subject employer.
Please note: if the cap is reached within the first week of April, as is expected again this year, USCIS intends to use a computer-generated lottery process to select a sufficient number of petitions needed to meet the cap. USCIS will reject and return the petitions not randomly selected with filing fees, and such cap-subject petitions cannot be re-filed until April 1, 2018 (for an effective start date of October 1, 2018).
For more information, please contact Lori Geisinger at (781) 253-7150 (lgeisinger@outsidegc.happy-staging.com) or Jackie DiSanto at (401) 402-0452 (jdisanto@outsidegc.happy-staging.com).