FY2012 H-1B Cap Limit Approaching — What Happens When the Cap is Reached?

Throughout the H-1B cap filing season (which opened back in April), we have been providing updates on the available H-1B cap numbers.   Over the past few weeks, we have been also issuing alerts (on our website, via our newsletter and through our twitter and facebook pages) on the upcoming H-1B cap limit.

Partially as a result of our outreach on the upcoming H-1B cap limit, we have been getting many questions on what happens when the H-1B cap is reached?  How does USCIS handle applications which are received on or after the date the H-1B cap is reached?

H-1B Applications Filed on the Day the H-1B Cap is Reached Are Subject to Random Lottery

H-1B filings which are received on the day the H-1B cap is reached are counted and, assuming the number of filed applications exceeds the remaining number of H-1B visas, USCIS conducts a random lottery to determine which of these H-1B applications would be counted and included under the cap.   Those H-1B applications which are filed on the last day but are not selected on the lottery for that last H-1B day are returned to the petitioners.

For example, if on the last day of the H-1B quota there are 700 available H-1B visas, but USCIS, on that day, receives 1,000 H-1B filings, there will be a random lottery among these 1,000 H-1B filings to determine 700 cases which will be accepted for processing under the cap.   The 300 H-1B filings not selected in this last-day lottery will be returned.

H-1B Filings Not Picked by the Last-Day Lottery or Filed Afterwards Are Rejected and Returned

H-1B cases filed on the last day of the H-1B cap but not picked by the last-day lottery (if there is one), or, H-1B cases filed after the last day are processed by USCIS to be returned to the filing petitioner employer (or their attorney) with an explanation that the H-1B cap has been reached and that there are no longer H-1B visas under this year’s cap.

Conclusion

Considering the increasing volume of H-1B filings and given our recent reports on the status of the FY2012 H-1B cap, we believe that the H-1B cap will be reached by the end of November 2011.    We will continue providing updates on the H-1B cap and, once it is reached, on possible alternatives.   If you need our help and services, please contact us at your earliest convenience