H-1B Season at VISANOW!

Posted on April 17, 2012 by VISANOW

Our April blog would not complete without an update on the H-1B cap for fiscal 2013. The period leading up to the opening of the cap is the busiest time of the year for VISANOW’s legal department, and we know the new allotment of visas is vital to the success of many of our clients. For the record, as of April 9^th, 2012, 17,400 H-1B Petitions had been accepted for processing by the USCIS, counted against the allotment of 65,000 available H-1B visas. The smaller, so-called “Master’s Cap,” an allotment of 20,000 additional visas reserved for applicants who obtained advanced degrees in the U.S., has also not been met: 8,200 Petitions have been accepted in this category thus far. The current number of filings under the standard H-1B cap represents a three-fold increase over the same period in the previous year, and the current number of filings received under the Master’s Cap is double what it was last year at this time. Increased activity in this visa category is generally seen as a leading indicator of increased economic activity and increased hiring, not only in the specialty occupations to which the visa type is specially tailored, but across the board in all of the industries those occupations serve and impact.

On behalf of its clients, VISANOW filed many H-1B Petitions on or about April 2^nd, 2012, and we continue to submit new Petitions every day. We remind our clients to identify potential candidates who might require H-1B sponsorship as early as possible this year and to consult with us about opening cases for them sooner, rather than later! At last year’s slower rate of filing, the quota of 85,000 H-1B visas was met in the month of November. This year, we predict an even earlier depletion of the visa allotment, so we recommend that hiring managers and human resources take advantage of our online consultation services and speedy case-preparation services the moment a viable candidate comes “on their radar.”

To those of our clients, whose new H-1B Petitions are currently pending with the CIS, we’d like to say:

“Thanks for your patronage and all of your help with the applications during the busy H-1B cap season!”

We’ll continue to keep you informed about incoming notices and approvals via our innovative and user-friendly web-portal, and we invite you to post any questions you might have about the H-1B Cap or immigration law in general in our Question-and-Answer forum, where a response from one of our attorneys is generally available within minutes!

-John Menchey

Immigration Specialist

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