Today the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced that it received more than 236,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017.
The Agency also announced that on April 9, 2016, it conducted a computer generated lottery of these 236,000 petitions to select 20,000 petitions under the Advanced Degree Cap (U.S. Master’s degree or higher) and 65,000 petitions under the regular H-1B cap.
The 150,000 remaining petitions have been rejected by USCIS and will be returned to petitions employers along with the filing fees.
While the number of H-1B petitions filed with USCIS this year is the highest number in recent history, it is only a 1% increase over the number of H-1B petitions filed in April 2015 under the cap for FY 2016. This contrasts dramatically with the nearly 55% increase in H-1B petitions filed by U.S. employers between April 2014 (FY 2015) and April 2015 (FY 2016).
Notwithstanding the fact that the number of H-1B petitions filed remained relatively stable for FY 2017, the current H-1B cap coupled with market demand leaves U.S. Employers with only about a 33% chance of being able to the hire professional, skilled foreign workers they require to maintain and grow their business in the United States.
If Congress is committed to supporting U.S. businesses and our economy, it must increase the number of H-1B visas available annually in order to meet market demand. These reforms to the visa program for temporary professional workers should be part of a larger comprehensive reform of our current outdated and unworkable immigration laws.
For more information on the H-1B visa and status for professional foreign workers, the H-1B cap or the need for immigration reform, please contact Kolko & Associates, P.C.