Immigration News
USCIS Announced Today That the H-1B Cap Has Been Reached
June 01, 2006
USCIS Announced today that on May 26th, it received a sufficient
number of H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap
for fiscal year 2007.
Cases received by USCIS on May 26th will go through a computerized
random selection process so that USCIS does not process more cases
than is allowed under the annual cap. Cases received by USCIS prior
to May 26th will be processed while cases received after May 26th
will be returned along with the filing fees.
Holders of US Master or higher Degrees
New H-1B cases for beneficiaries that possess a US master’s
or higher degree will still be accepted as the annual limit of 20,000
on U.S. advance degree H-1Bs have not been reached. Approximately
6,000 of such cases have been filed so far.
Cases Not Subject to the Cap
Petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers do not count
toward the H-1B cap. Accordingly, USCIS will continue to process
change of employer H-1B petitions, H-1B extension petitions, petitions
requesting a change in the terms of H-1B employment, and petitions
for concurrent H-1B employment.
Possible Cap Increase
On May 25, 2006, the U.S. Senate passed its comprehensive immigration
reform bill. In addition to the highly publicized guest worker and
legalization provisions, the bill would increase the H-1B cap to
115,000. Since the House of Representatives is backing immigration
bills that are dissimilar, Congress members of each house must meet
and agree on a single, compromise bill. If a compromise is reached,
the conference bill must then be passed by both the Senate and the
House. This process may take a number of months. We will provide
updates as they become available.
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