The H-1B visa program is used by U.S. employers to employ qualified foreign workers in specialty occupations that require the theoretical or practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge. To qualify, the offered position must require a minimum of a bachelor's degree in a specific specialty and the prospective worker must possess such a degree (or its equivalent) in the specialty or a related field.
Every fiscal year the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) makes available a congressionally mandated cap of 65,000 new H-1Bs. An additional 20,000 are exempted from the cap for workers who have obtained a master's or higher degree from an accredited university in the U.S. These workers cannot begin their H-1B status (and employment) until the fiscal year begins on October 1, and these types of petitions can be filed no more than six months prior to the requested start date, resulting in a filing date of April 1 every year. The congressionally mandated cap applies to "new" H-1Bs only—individuals who previously have never held H-1B status pursuant to a cap-subject H-1B. H-1B petitions filed to transfer workers between companies and H-1B petitions to extend status with the same employer are not subject to this cap.
Due to demand far exceeding supply, the USCIS typically receives more petitions than there are available cap-subject H-1Bs (in some years over three times the number). To address this issue, USCIS runs a lottery for all of the petitions received during the first five business days of April. For 2017, April 1 falls on a Saturday, which means that the USCIS will accept cap subject H-1B petitions received from April 3 to April 7, 2017. To ensure that a cap-subject H-1B petition can be submitted to the USCIS during that time, we recommend that the process begin immediately.
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