August 12, 2005

USCIS Reaches FY2006 H-1B Cap

USCIS announced today that it has reached the congressionally mandated H-1B cap for foreign nationals seeking H-1B status who hold a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent for the new fiscal year 2006 (FY06). The agency indicated that all petitions received on or before August 10, 2005 may still be approvable under the FY06 cap. However, if insufficient cap numbers are available for all cases received on August 10, 2005, a computer-generated random selection process will be used to assign remaining cap numbers for cases received that day. Once this selection is complete, any remaining petitions submitted on August 10, 2005 for which a FY06 number is not available, will be returned, along with the respective filing fees.

The earliest date to file a cap-subject H-1B petition for bachelor’s degree holders for FY07, with an employment start date of October 1, 2006, is April 1, 2006.

USCIS is continuing to process H-1B petitions for foreign nationals that are exempt from the general cap allocation. Foreign nationals exempt from the general cap include:

• Individuals who already hold H-1B status and are extending their existing status.
• Individuals who already hold H-1B status and are changing the terms of employment or employers.
• Individuals who will be hired for positions at an institution of higher education or a related or affiliated nonprofit entity, or at a nonprofit research organization or a governmental research organization.

In addition, processing of H-1B petitions for numbers set aside and limited exemptions also continues. These include:

• Chilean and Singaporean nationals under the additional quota designation under the Free Trade Agreements with those countries.
• FY05 and FY06 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of foreign nationals who have earned a U.S. master’s or higher degree. In this category, USCIS indicates that there are just under 10,000 cap numbers for FY05 (employment start date before October 1, 2005) and 12,000 cap numbers for FY06 (employment start date after October 1, 2005).

GT is currently working with the Compete American Coalition to craft legislative remedies to alleviate the burden the H-1B cap imposes on U.S. businesses.