H-1B Filing Alert

H-1B FY 2017 Filing Alert

The time for filing H-1B lottery subject applications is approaching. The first five weekdays of April is when USCIS is accepting H-1B applications for the lottery. It will play the lottery shortly after that and begin issuing receipt notices and rejections for the lottery. There is a limited cap of 65,000 plus an addition 20,000 reserved for US Master’s.

If you are considering filing an H-1B application for a foreign national in a specialty occupation (a requirement of the H-1B visa), now is the time to act. An H-1B petition can be cap-exempt, meaning not subject to the lottery, if there are certain approved affiliations or if the employee in question has already been accepted under the cap. Otherwise, the petition is subject to the cap and must be filed in two weeks. The beneficiaries of accepted and approved H-1B applications will be able to work in H-1B status on October 1, 2016, the first day of the fiscal year.