The H-1B Program
U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields, such as scientists, engineers, or computer programmers.
For more information about the H-1B program, see the link to the left under temporary workers for H-1B Specialty Occupations, DOD Cooperative Research and Development Project Workers, and Fashion Models.
How USCIS Determines if an H-1B Petition is Subject to the FY 2011 Cap
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it continues to accept H-1B nonimmigrant petitions subject to the Fiscal Year 2011 (FY 2011) cap. USCIS will monitor the number of petitions received for both the 65,000 general cap and the 20,000 U.S. master’s degree or higher educational exemption.
USCIS has received approximately 13,500 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap. The agency has received approximately 5,600 petitions for individuals with advanced degrees.
Our office was retained to process an H-1 Change of Status petition for a Quality Assurance Engineer working on a turnkey project owned by a middle vendor at a client location. We explained to USCIS that the end-client was infact the vendor, who “owned” the project. USCIS denied the petition, holdingthat we had failed to obtain proper documentation from the end-client. We filed an MTR with extensive arguments and evidence that the petitioner was the actual employer of the beneficiary and that the vendor, not the end-client, owned the project.
USCIS reports that as of April 15, 2010, approximately 13,600 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been filed. They have approved 5,800 H-1B petitions for advanced degree professionals.
As of Monday, April 5, 2010, Vermont Service Center had received a total of 9,525 quota H-1B petitions. 6,791 were bachelor's, and 2,734 were advanced degree. All cases received before April 7, 2010, will get an April 7, 2010 receipt date. Those received on April 7, 2010 or later will have the actual receipt date. For those submitted for Premium Processing, the clock will start on April 7, 2010.