FY 2015 H1b Update

USCIS news release today says, it has received 172,500 H1-B applications during the filing period that began on 1 April 2014 for the FY 2015.

USCIS had already announced on April 7, 2014 that it had received enough applications to meet the 65,000 general cap and 20,000 advance degree cap.

Today's release also confirms that, USCIS has completed the computer generated random selection process to decide on the accepted applicants under the cap.

Complete news release form USCIS website - http://www.uscis.gov/news/uscis-reaches-fy-2015-h-1b-cap-0

Immigration Data and Updates

First: Immigration Reform Bill that was passed by US Senate is stalled in US House. It has been announced that any immigration related issues will taken over after summer recess.

Please check this update from Murthy.Com -- http://www.murthy.com/2013/07/22/comprehensive-immigration-reform-july-2013-update/

Second:  See how the cut-off dates has been for EB2 India and Eb3 India, starting from Oct 2009 Visa Bulletin (X-Axis: Cut-off dates and Y-Axis: Visa Bulletin Date) :

Source of the data is from -- http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html

Third: See how many visas has been issued on F1 and H1B categories and compare it against the 140,000 employment based green card available (X-Axis: Year and Y-Axis: Count of number of visas issued):

Source of the data is from -- http://travel.state.gov/visa/statistics/statistics_1476.html

Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act

Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act -- S.744

Normally, I don't want to comment on pending bills. But, there has been many questions regarding this. So, I thought I will write a blog.

Please remember for a bill to become law it has so many hoops to pass. It takes unexpected twists and turns throughout its journey. For now, the bill has passed Senate Judiciary Committee with 13-5 votes. Good part is, it has been introduced by the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” -- 4 senators from Democratic side and 4 Senators from Republican Side. Bad part is, it already has 5 "No" votes. It is expected to be taken up by Senate for debate on June 10. Once it passes the senate, it will go to House committee and then it will go to house for voting. Both Senate and House has to pass the exact bill and then it goes to the President for signature to become law. Just to give an idea on how tough it is, the Senate committee had to deal with about 300 amendments (changes) to the bill. We can expect more in Senate and more in House.

According to the Bill as it stands now, it exempts the following from the green card quota:

1. Folks with Ph.D. 
2. Folks with STEM Masters degree from US University 
3. Spouse and minor children of primary applicant
4. Physicians after completing residency requirements
5. Folks who fall under current EB1 category


It also has among other things:

1. Per country cap elimination
2. Recapure of Visas
3. More H1b quota
4. Provision for H4 to work
5. Giving Green Card to folks currently waiting for 3 years or more

Murthy.Com has a very good summary here

To see the Bill you can check The Library of Congress PDF

To keep up with that Bill check The Library of Congress Status

FY 2014 H1B cap reached

Earlier today, USCIS announced that it has received enough petitions towards the regular cap of 65,000 petitions and also towards the 20,000 advance degree quota.

What this means is, there will be lottery system to see who all got approved. First they will do the advance cap lottery, and then will add the applications of the folks who didn't get through in advance cap to general pool and then do another lottery for general pool.

It is interesting to note last time first week lottery happened in FY 2009.

Below is the timeline, when the H1b quota was over:

FY 2013: Cap reached on June 11, 2012

FY 2012:  Cap reached on Nov 22, 2011

FY 2011: Cap reached on Jan 26, 2011

FY 2010: Cap reached on Dec 21, 2009

FY 2009: Cap reached first week, lottery on April 8, 2008.

FY 2008: Cap reached first day, lottery on April 4, 2007. Advanced degree cap reached on April 30, 2007

FY 2007: Cap reached on May 26, 2006. Advance Degree cap reached on July 26, 2006

To view the new alert from USCIS website -- Please Click Here

H1B cap reached for FY 2013

Today, USCIS announced that H-1B quota for FY2013 is reached.

According to the release, on 11 June 2012, they have received enough applications to cover the number for FY 2013. They also mentioned on 7 June 2012, they received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions under the advanced degree H-1B quota. USCIS says it will reject all cap subject applications received after 11 June 2012.

Below is the timeline, when the H1b quota was over:

FY 2013: Cap reached on June 11, 2012

FY 2012:  Cap reached on Nov 22, 2011

FY 2011: Cap reached on Jan 26, 2011

FY 2010: Cap reached on Dec 21, 2009

FY 2009: Cap reached first week, lottery on April 8, 2008.

FY 2008: Cap reached first day, lottery on April 4, 2007. Advanced degree cap reached on April 30, 2007

FY 2007: Cap reached on May 26, 2006. Advance Degree cap reached on July 26, 2006

To see the h1b count -- Please Click Here

FY 2013 -- H1b Quota Update

USCIS started updating accepting applications for H1b visa from Monday, April 2, 2012. This is for Fiscal Year 2013, that starts on October 1, 2012.

USCIS recently provided update on the number of applications it has received. As of April 13, 2012 -- USCIS has received 20,600 applications towards the general H1b quota of 68,000 and 9,700 towards the advanced cap, masters quota, of 20,000.

For the same time last year, USCIS had received 27,300 towards general quota and 11,600 towards the masters quota.

Below is the timeline for the previous years, when the H1b quota was over:

FY 2012:  Cap reached on Nov 22, 2011

FY 2011: Cap reached on Jan 26, 2011

FY 2010: Cap reached on Dec 21, 2009

FY 2009: Cap reached first week, lottery on April 8, 2008.

FY 2008: Cap reached first day, lottery on April 4, 2007. Advanced degree cap reached on April 30, 2007

FY 2007: Cap reached on May 26, 2006. Advance Degree cap reached on July 26, 2006

More details and latest updates: http://www.uscis.gov/h-1b_count

H-1B Cap Reached

USCIS started updating accepting applications for H1b visa on April 1, 2011. This is for Fiscal Year 2012, that starts on October 1, 2011.

USCIS provided an update today, that it has received enough applications to cover this year's quota, as per the below website:

"On November 22, 2011, USCIS received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the statutory cap for FY 2012. USCIS also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption as of October 19, 2011. USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY 2012 that are received after November 22, 2011.

USCIS continues to accept cap-exempt petitions, DOD petitions and Chile/Singapore H-1B1 petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012."

It is important to note that, for the previous fiscal year the cap was reached on Jan 26, 2011, while it is Nov 22, 2011 for this fiscal year.

Below is the timeline for the previous years, when the H1b quota was over:

FY 2011: Cap reached on Jan 26, 2011

FY 2010: Cap reached on Dec 21, 2009

FY 2009: Cap reached first week, lottery on April 8, 2008.

FY 2008: Cap reached first day, lottery on April 4, 2007. Advanced degree cap reached on April 30, 2007

FY 2007: Cap reached on May 26, 2006. Advance Degree cap reached on July 26, 2006

More details and latest updates: http://www.uscis.gov/h-1b_count

H1b Quota - Almost over

USCIS started updating accepting applications for H1b visa on April 1, 2011. This is for Fiscal Year 2012, that starts on October 1, 2011.

USCIS provided an update today, on the number of applications it has received. As of Nov 18, 2011, it has received 61,800 applications towards the general H1b quota of 68,000 and 20,000 towards the advanced cap, masters quota, of 20,000.

Given this, the masters quota has already been exhausted. It was sooner than the last year. The general cap is also following the same trend.

The total H1b cap is expected to be exhausted before the end of this month.

Below is the timeline for the previous years, when the H1b quota was over:

FY 2011: Cap reached on Jan 26, 2011

FY 2010: Cap reached on Dec 21, 2009

FY 2009: Cap reached first week, lottery on April 8, 2008.

FY 2008: Cap reached first day, lottery on April 4, 2007. Advanced degree cap reached on April 30, 2007

FY 2007: Cap reached on May 26, 2006. Advance Degree cap reached on July 26, 2006

More details and latest updates: http://www.uscis.gov/h-1b_count

H1b Quota Update - 12 Oct 2011

USCIS started updating accepting applications for H1b visa on April 1, 2011. This is for Fiscal Year 2012, that starts on October 1, 2011.

USCIS recently provided update on the number of applications it has received. As of Oct 7, 2011, it has received 41,000 applications towards the general H1b quota of 68,000 and 19,100 towards the advanced cap, masters quota, of 20,000. For the same time last year, USCIS had received 41,900 towards general quota and 15,400 towards the masters quota.

Given this, the masters quota is getting exhausted sooner than the last year while the general cap is little slower. If the same trend continues, the overall quota might get over sooner than last fiscal year.

Below is the timeline for the previous years, when the H1b quota was over:

FY 2011: Cap reached on Jan 26, 2011

FY 2010: Cap reached on Dec 21, 2009

FY 2009: Cap reached first week, lottery on April 8, 2008.

FY 2008: Cap reached first day, lottery on April 4, 2007. Advanced degree cap reached on April 30, 2007

FY 2007: Cap reached on May 26, 2006. Advance Degree cap reached on July 26, 2006

More details and latest updates: http://www.uscis.gov/h-1b_count

H1b quota update

USCIS started updating accepting applications for H1b visa on April 1, 2011. This is for Fiscal Year 2012, that starts on October 1, 2011.

USCIS recently provided update on the number of applications it has received. End of July, 2011, it has received 22,700 applications towards the general H1b quota of 68,000 and 13,800 towards the advanced cap, masters quota, of 20,000.

For the same time last year, USCIS had received 27,300 towards general quota and 11,600 towards the masters quota.

Below is the timeline for the previous years, when the H1b quota was over:

FY 2011: Cap reached on Jan 26, 2011

FY 2010: Cap reached on Dec 21, 2009

FY 2009: Cap reached first week, lottery on April 8, 2008.

FY 2008: Cap reached first day, lottery on April 4, 2007. Advanced degree cap reached on April 30, 2007

FY 2007: Cap reached on May 26, 2006. Advance Degree cap reached on July 26, 2006

I am very curious to see how long it will go, for this Fiscal Year.

More details and latest updates: http://www.uscis.gov/h-1b_count

FY 2012 -- H1b season begins

USCIS started accepting applications for H1b on April 1, 2011 for the Fiscal Year 2012. The actual start on the H1b applications will be October 1, 2011 or later.

Today, USCIS released the first set on the number of applications they received. As of April 7, 2011. They have received 5,900 applications towards the 65,000 maximum regular H1b quota and 4,500 applications towards the 20,000 maximum advanced degree h1b quota.

More details: http://www.uscis.gov/h-1b_count

2011 h1b cap reached

According to the news published on the USCIS Website , it has received enough applications against the annual quota of 65,000 in the regular category, as of 26 JAN 2011. In the 20,000 cap exempt advanced degree quota, USCIS had already received 20,000 petitions, as of 22 DEC 2010. So, USCIS will no longer accept any applications for the 2011 fiscal year.

Fiscal Year 2011, started on Oct 1, 2010 and will end on Sept 30, 2011. USCIS started accepting h1b petitions for this year from April 1, 2010. The next fiscal year 2012, will start on Oct 1, 2011, for this the USCIS might start accepting applications from April 1, 2011.

My friend Raghu, has a very neat table of how the number has progressed from April 1, 2010 in Happy Schools Blog -- h1b visa 2011

H1b cap almost there

According to the new data published on the USCIS Website , it has received 62,800 cap eligible petition as of 21 Jan 2011, as against the annual quota of 65,000 in the regular category. In the 20,000 cap exempt advanced degree quota, USCIS had already received 20,000 petitions, couple of weeks back.

Given that there are only 2,200 applications to go, the cap might be reached this month.

Fiscal Year 2011, started on Oct 1, 2010 and will end on Sept 30, 2011. USCIS started accepting h1b petitions for this year from April 1, 2010.

My friend Raghu, has a very neat table of how the number has progressed from April 1, 2010 in Happy Schools Blog -- h1b visa 2011

H1b cap update -- Masters cap reached

According to the new data published on the USCIS Website , it has received 55,800 cap eligible petition as of 24 Dec 2010, as against the annual quota of 65,000 in the regular category. In the 20,000 cap exempt advanced degree quota, USCIS has received 20,000 petitions. This means, the advanced degree quota is met, so the petitions with advanced degree will be considered in the regular category from now on.

Fiscal Year 2011, started on Oct 1, 2010 and will end on Sept 30, 2011. USCIS started accepting h1b petitions for this year from April 1, 2010.

My friend Raghu, has a very neat table of how the number has progressed from April 1, 2010 in Happy Schools Blog -- h1b visa 2011

H1b cap update

According to the new data published on the USCIS Website , it has received 44,300 cap eligible petition as of 22 Oct 2010, as against the annual quota of 65,000 in the regular category. In the 20,000 cap exempt advanced degree quota, USCIS has received 16,200 petitions.

Fiscal Year 2011, started on Oct 1, 2010 and will end on Sept 30, 2011. USCIS started accepting h1b petitions for this year from April 1, 2010.

My friend Raghu, has a very neat table of how the number has progressed from April 1, 2010 in Happy Schools Blog -- h1b visa 2011

H1B FY 2011

USCIS started accepting application for petitions on April 1, 2010 that are subject to the FY 2011 cap. The approved petitions will have start date of October 1, 2010 or later.

Till date, USCIS has provided few updates on the number of petitions they received. As on 22 April 2010, they have received 16,025 applications that qualify under the general quota and 6,739 applications that qualify for the master's degree or more quota.

For FY 2011, USCIS can approve, 65,000 ,H-1B Regular Cap applications and 20,000 H-1B Master's exemption applications.

The rate at which the applications are received shows the economy is still slow and but recovering.

H1b and F1 from India

U.S.Department of state has the data for the number of h1b (job) visas and f1 (student) visas from different countries and their total number.

Total number of H1Bs given for FY 09 is 110,367 while more than fifty percent of them is from India. The number has actually reduced from 72,517 to 55,886. This might be due to the economy and the strict policies US government is enforcing against H1B visa holders in particular. But still for the last 4 years one of the IT companies based in India, gets the most number of H1b visas.

What is suprising is the drop in the F1 - student - visas. It has gone down from 36,149 to 26,890. China and South Korea are the top contenders in this section. Looks like students from India are exploring other avenues like UK, Australia and Canada for higher studies, given the tougher H1b and Green Card (permanent residents) scenario in US.

FY 10 data is not out yet. It will be very nice to see how that shapes up.

Data Source: http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/statistics/statistics_4582.html

H1B Cap reached

USCIS has announced today that, as of December 21 2009, they have received sufficient h1b applications to fill the quota for FY 2010 (1 oct 2009 to 30 Sept 2010). They have already received the cap exempt, Masters Degree holder cap of 20,000. So, no more H1b applications will be accepted for the FY 2010.

They will start accepting FY 2011 (1 oct 2010 to 30 sept 2011) H1b applications from 1 apr 2010.

The applications where filled within in the first one week, for the last 2 years. But, this year, I went on for 8 months starting in april 2009. USCIS has received more than 10,000 applications in last one month. Is it a sign of economy improving ? Atleast, I would hope for it !!!

H1B cap

The new information on USCIS website says, "As of October 30, 2009, approximately 53,800 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been filed. USCIS has approved sufficient H1-B petitions for aliens with advanced degrees to meet the exemption of 20,000 from the fiscal year 2010 cap. Any H1-B petitions filed on behalf of an alien with an advanced degree will now count toward the general H1-B cap of 65,000. USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn."

It is very interesting to see that just 3 days back, USCIS told they had 52,800 applications. Now, the website says 53,800. There is no explanation anywhere if they got 1000 applications in just 3 days or if it was an error in the earlier posting. If they have got 1000 applications in just 3 days, then the remaining 11,200 h1b will be filled pretty soon.

FY 2010 h1b cap update

According to the new data published on the USCIS website, the 20,000 cap exempt advanced degree quota has been completed filled. This quota for advanced degree holders. So, any new application with advanced degree will be counted on the general category of 65,000 h1b petitions per fiscal year. Of this, USCIS has 52,800 petitions which leaves only 12,200 h1b petitions to be filled. As on september 25, 2009 had 46,700 petitions. So, USCIS has received about 6,100 applications in just one month.

Fiscal Year 2010, started on Oct 1, 2009 and will end on Sept 30, 2010. USCIS started accpeting h1b petitions for this year from April 1, 2009.