April 06, 2018
The Fiscal Year 2019 H-1B Visa Cap Has Been Met
Please be advised that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has met and exceeded the H-1B cap for fiscal year 2019 (FY19). USCIS announced that it has reached the congressionally mandated 65,000 cap during the filing period from April 2, 2018 to April 6, 2018. USCIS stated that it has also received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to meet the 20,000 limit for the master’s cap. The master’s cap is made up of petitions for beneficiaries who earned an advanced degree from a U.S. university.
USCIS has not yet released information on how many petitions were received, but has stated that they will reject and return filing fees for all unselected cap-subject petitions.
Cap Statistics and Taking Action
This is the fifth year in a row that the H-1B cap has been met in the first week that filings are accepted. Last year, USCIS received about 199,000 cap-subject cases and the odds of having a petition selected in the lottery were roughly 1 in 3. The continued increase in cap filings year-to-year is representative of U.S. employers’ increasing desire to retain talented foreign employees. The arbitrary limit of 65,000 H-1B positions for the entire nation is a reflection of our broken immigration system.
We encourage you to reach out to your representatives in Congress and demand comprehensive immigration reform to include an increase in the number of H-1B visas, or a removal of the cap entirely. Here are links to assist you in locating your congressional representative: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and your senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.
For more information on FY2019 H-1B cap-subject filings, please see: https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/h-1b-specialty-occupations-and-fashion-models/h-1b-fiscal-year-fy-2019-cap-season
USCIS will continue to receive and process H-1B petitions that are not subject to the annual cap.