Potential H-1B candidates who do not make it to the Fiscal Year 2011 H-1B visa quota (October 1, 2010 or later start-date) have the options to have their H-1B cap petitions submitted to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on or after April 1, 2011 (October 1, 2011 or later start-date) for the Fiscal Year 2012 H-1B visa quota.
As of January 7, 2011, the USCIS has received 58,700 H-1B petitions that are subject to the annual 65,000 visa cap. These H-1B petitions will count towards the Fiscal Year 2011 visa cap (FY2011).
The USCIS has already received over 20,000 of the first 20,000 H-1B petitions for FY2011 that are exempted from the 65,000 visa cap, under the advanced degree exemption which applies to an H-1B beneficiary who has successfully obtained a U.S. Master's degree or higher. These extra petitions will now be counted towards the regular 65,000 visa cap where 58,700 of such visa numbers have already been used up.
These FY2011 H-1B work visas will have an employment start-date of October 1, 2010 or later.
Not all H-1B petitions are subject to the annual visa cap, depending on the types of H-1B petition being filed, and the types of entity-sponsor.
Normally, H-1B petitions/work visas are approved for a maximum of 6 years (3 years each time).
By Aik Wan Kok, Attorney at Law, at Tiya PLC; Tel: 703-772-8224
www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; www.immigrationresource.net
We represent employers, and individuals and their families in green card and work visa matters in U.S. immigration law.
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This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as a legal advice or an attorney-client relationship.
