There are no more H-1B visas available for fiscal year 2013. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that all petitions for the 65,000 available H-1B visas have been received and they will not be accepting any more petitions for fiscal year 2013.
USCIS is advising the public that yesterday, June 11, 2012, was the deadline for receipt of petitions for H-1B visas.
USCIS will only accept as the date of service when it physically received the petition for properly filed cases, not the date stamped on the envelope.
However, there are some exceptions. USCIS will continue to accept and process certain H-1B petitions that they seek:
- extend the amount of time a worker, who currently holds an H-1B visa, may remain in the U.S.
- change the conditions of employment for workers who currently hold an H-1B visa.
- allow a worker, who currently holds an H-1B visa, to change employers.
- allow a worker, who currently holds an H-1B visa, to simultaneously work in a second H-1B job.
As of June 7, 2012, USCIS received more than 20,000 petitions for H-1B visas filed on behalf of individuals who are exempt from the cap under the "advanced college degree" exemption. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are exempt from the cap.
H-1B visas allow U.S. companies to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialized occupations such as scientists, engineers or computer programmers.