December 16, 2005

Current Cap Count for Non-Immigrant Worker Visas

Although the USCIS reached its cutoff for the approval of additional H-1B filings earlier than expected for FY06, employers were given some relief thanks to a carve out exempting individuals with advanced degrees from a U.S. academic institution. Up to 20,000 foreign nationals with these graduate degrees are now exempt from the annual cap of 65,000. As of December 5, 2005, USCIS reported that it had 17,067 approved and/or pending applications in this exempt category. GT calculates that approvals issued under the terms of this H-1B cap-exempted category are being granted at a rate of approximately 300-350 approvals each week. Assuming this continues to be the case, it is anticipated that this cap shall be reached in approximately six to eight weeks time.

In addition, H-2B filings continue to be adjudicated as well. As GT had reported earlier in the year, the H-2B cap is divided between the first and second half of the year to ensure that organizations that normally use this category in the latter part of the year will not be deprived of its use simply due to timing. As of December 5, 2005, 40,338 H-2B petitions were either pending or had been approved. However, USCIS estimates that only 62% of the sponsored foreign nationals will actually be issued H-2B visa stamps by the U.S. Department of State. Without the visa stamp, the sponsored foreign national will not be able to enter the U.S. and actually work in H-2B status. The agency’s current policy is that once this cap has been reached, all remaining filings which have not been considered as of the cutoff date, shall be rejected.