The Fiscal Year 2010 H-1B Recap
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Robert Taylor
The H-1B cap for fiscal year 2010 has been a source of surprising ups and downs for all involved in the immigration process. As has been tradition for the past several years, the H-1B process began in full swing at the beginning of 2009 with the anticipation of the H-1B lottery in April. This year, however, came with the surprise that the H-1B cap had not been met after the initial April filings. Many anxious U.S. employers were gratefully able to take a deep breath knowing that they were going to be able to hire the necessary talent they required to help their business grow in our recessing economy.
The summer months followed suit with U.S. employers continuing to recruit new talent and building their workforce without the fear of whether there would be H-1B visas available. The flexibility of being able to hire new employees over the summer provided companies with the ability to plan and forecast with a more long term hiring perspective. This resulted in companies being able to hire the best individuals for projects and meet business needs as opposed to looking for a stop gap until the next H-1B cap opened.
As of November 27, 2009, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed that:
- Approximately 58,900 H-1B cap subject petitions have been approved; and,
- Sufficient H-1B petitions have been approved for aliens with advanced degrees to meet the exemption of 20,000 from the fiscal year 2010 cap.
USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.
H-1B petitions have significantly increased in recent weeks as December graduates from U.S. universities have entered the workforce. As the fiscal year 2010 H-1B cap comes to an end, U.S. employers will once again be limited in their hiring practices and possibly restricted from hiring the necessary talent required to allow their business to continue to succeed. Although the H-1B cap has remained open until December, it is still clear that reform is needed in this area as businesses continue to be limited in their ability to hire the necessary personnel that will allow their business to continue to grow, succeed and ultimately contribute to the recovery of our economy.
We will continue to provide regular updates on the H-1B cap. If you have questions about the H-1B cap or working in the United States, contact the immigration law professionals at Szabo, Zelnick & Erickson, P.C. (info@szelaw.com).