USCIS Reaches Fiscal Year 2012 H-1B Cap
11/24/2011
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today
that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the
statutory cap of 65,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2012. USCIS is notifying the public
that yesterday, Nov. 22, 2011, was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty
occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012.
Properly filed cases will be considered received on the date that USCIS physically receives the petition; not the date that the petition was postmarked. USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY 2012 that arrive after Nov. 22, 2011.
As of Oct. 19, 2011, USCIS had also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the ‘advanced degree’ exemption. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. In addition, petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap will not be counted toward the FY 2012 H-1B cap. Accordingly, USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions filed to:
1. extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the U.S.;
2. change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;
Properly filed cases will be considered received on the date that USCIS physically receives the petition; not the date that the petition was postmarked. USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY 2012 that arrive after Nov. 22, 2011.
As of Oct. 19, 2011, USCIS had also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the ‘advanced degree’ exemption. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. In addition, petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap will not be counted toward the FY 2012 H-1B cap. Accordingly, USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions filed to:
1. extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the U.S.;
2. change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;
3. allow current H-1B workers to change employers; and
4. allow
current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.
U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty
occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized
fields such as scientists, engineers or computer programmers.
For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit
www.uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter
(@uscis), YouTube (/uscis) and the USCIS blog The Beacon.
Source:AILA
