The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year 2018 cap on April 3, 2017.
~ U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
According to CNN, in 2016 the cap of 85,000 H-1B visas was reached less than a week after applications opened; and during that time 236,000 petitions were submitted.
United States H-IB Visa Facts:
- H-1B Visas are offered through a lottery
- 85,000 H-1B Visas are awarded each year
- H-1B Visas are good for 3 years
- California seeks more H-1B Visa holders than any other state, followed by Texas and New York
- 2/3 of H1-B Visas granted in 2015 were for tech jobs
Non-premium visa petitions took up to eight months for approval; the U.S. recently announced a temporary suspension up to 6 months for premium processing for all H-1B petitions beginning April 3.
