USCIS REACHES FY 2009 H-1B CAP
On April 8, 2008, the U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced that it had received enough H-1B petitions to meet the cap for fiscal year 2009. USCIS also announced that it had received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt under the U.S. Masters advanced degree exemption. The law allocates 65,000 new H-1B numbers annually to H-1B workers and another 20,000 are set aside specifically for those holding advanced degrees earned from U.S. universities. Petitions received after April 8th will be returned.
USCIS will begin the selection process by labeling each petition received before April 8th with a unique numerical identifier for a computer-generated random selection process. USCIS will conduct the selection for the “ U.S. Masters advanced degree” exemption first. Those “advanced degree” petitions not selected will then be a part of the random selection process for the regular 65,000 cap. Petitions that are randomly selected will be forwarded for further processing and a receipt notice will be issued. Petitions that are not selected will be returned, with the fees, to the appropriate representative.
USCIS has not yet announced exactly how many petitions were received between April 1st, the first day on which a petition could be filed, and April 8th. However, we expect the number to be in very high. As a result, the selection process could take several weeks to complete.
Also on April 8th , USCIS released an Interim Final Rule addressing the “Cap-Gap” issue. “Cap–Gap” is the term used to describe the period of time between when an F-1 student’s authorized period of stay expires and the effective start date of the H-1B. A gap between the two dates may result in the student not having legal authorization to remain in the U.S. during that period. The Interim Final Rule addresses this issue by extending the authorized period of stay for all F-1 students who have an H-1B petition with a change of status request (filed under the cap for the next fiscal year) pending with USCIS. If the H-1B petition is approved, the students will have an extension that enables them to remain in the United States until the requested start date indicated in the H-1B petition.
