USCIS to Start Accepting H-1B Petitions for FY 2012 on April 1, 2011

The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today it will start accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2012 cap on April 1, 2011.  Cases will be considered accepted on the date USCIS receives a properly filed petition for which the correct fee has been submitted; not the date that the petition is postmarked.

The cap for FY 2012 is 65,000.  Of the 65,000 H-1Bs available, 6,800 are annually set aside for the H-1B1 program for Chile and Singapore.  Unused H-1B1 visas will be added back to the regular cap.  The following H-1B petitions are exempt from the FY 2012 cap:

1.       The first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of individuals with U.S. master’s or higher degrees.

2.       Petitions filed on behalf of individuals who will work only in Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands are exempt from the cap until Dec. 31, 2014.

3.       Petitions for new H-1B employment if the beneficiaries will work at:

a.       Institutions of higher education or related or affiliated nonprofit entities;

b.      Nonprofit research organizations; or

c.       Governmental research organizations.

4.       Petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap.

5.       Petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who are seeking to extend, amend or work concurrently in a second H-1B position.

USCIS will notify the public of the date when the cap for FY 2012 is reached. This date is known as the final receipt date.  USCIS will subject H-1B petitions received on the final receipt date to a computer-generated random selection process.