Ogletree Deakins (05/15/12)

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services received a total of approximately 51,500 H-1B filings for employment in fiscal year 2013, which begins Oct. 1, as of May 11, with 36,700 petitions having been receipted against the “regular cap” of 65,000 and 14,800 H-1B petitions having been receipted against the “Master’s cap” of 20,000 for foreign nationals with advanced degrees from U.S. universities and colleges.

By this time in 2011, USCIS had received approximately 19,100 H-1B cap-subject petitions, while in 2010 it had received about 27,100 cases over a comparable period. Based on the substantial increase in the H-1B filings for FY 2013, this year’s H-1B cap will be reached much earlier than in the past two years, possibly even by June 2012. Employers should continue to identify persons for whom H-1B sponsorship will be needed, and contact attorneys as soon as possible to enable sufficient time for petition preparation.