H1B Quota

The United States of America has the provision of applying a non immigrant visa, which permits any US concern or industry to employ any foreign national for any duration of time which may extend up to as long as six years. This permit is usually called the H1B visa, and is preferred to the Green card by many employers while engaging foreigners on any long duration project in the United States. This is usually because the Green Card application is usually a lengthy and time-consuming process, while H1B are usually easier to obtain. Individuals may file an application for a H1B visa, which would allow them to work in the United States. The employer who is desirous of engaging the services of the foreign national must petition for the entry of the employee The H1B visa is designed to be made available to foreign nationals in “specialty occupations”, i.e., any occupation which requires a high degree of specialized knowledge. Generally, the minimum requirement is a 4-year equivalent of a bachelor’s degree recognized in the United States.

Not all the petitions come under H1B Quota regulations.

There is a cap associated with the H1B visas, i.e., only a specific number of visas are granted annually. “The Cap refers to the annual numerical limitations set by the Congress on the number of workers authorized to be admitted on H1B visas”. The Congress has restricted the number of persons who can enter the United States in this H1B category (65,000 per year). Not all the H1B petitions come under these quota regulations.

Current H1B workers, as well as certain foreign nationals already engaged by some institution of higher employment, or related non-profit concerns, or at non-profit or governmental study facilities, are not covered by the quota regulations. The H1B quota also carves out a separate number of visas from these 65,000, only for nationals from Chile and Singapore, under the terms and conditions of the US-Chile and the US-Singapore Free Trade legislations. Additionally, the H1B Visa Reform Act (2004) declared an exemption of the first 20,000 H1B appeals filed on behalf of those foreign nationals who have obtained a Master-degree or any higher degree from any foundation of higher education in the United States. Applications for the next Financial Year are accepted beginning on the first working day of the month of Aril each year.

Initially when this H1b Quota was implemented, it was rarely filled. However, by the mid-1990s, the cap would be reached regularly. The quota was filled on a first-come, first –served basis. Between 1998 and 2000, the quota was raised to 115000 annually to accommodate the exponentially increasing applications for the H1B visas. In the financial year 2004, this temporary increase expired, and the quota was brought down to 90,000. More recently, the general H1B quota was brought down to 65000, with some additional 20000 visas set aside for foreign workers with advanced US degrees. Since then, the entire annual quota for visas is usually exhausted very early. Since the number of applications received is more than five to six times the quota limit, the concerned authorities usually pick up random applications from those received within a specified time through lottery to consider for visa approval.

Make sure you check U.S. Citizenship And Immigration Services (USCIS) For more information about the 2011 H1b Cap Count.