USCIS Update: H-1B Cap for Fiscal Year 2019 Reached

No More H-1B Petitions to Be Accepted for the Following Year

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced last Friday (April 6th) that the  65,000 H-1B specialty occupation visa cap for next year has officially been reached. It has also met the master's cap, or the 20,000 visa U.S. advanced degree exemption. USCIS will thus reject and return filing fees for all  its unselected cap-subject H-1B petitions that are not prohibited multiple filings. 

Cap-Exempt H-1B Petitions

However, USCIS will continue accepting and processing petitions exempt from the cap. Furthermore, petitions that have been filed for current H-1B workers still retaining their cap number and who have previously been counted against the cap will also be exempted. These acceptable petitions include those filed for reasons of the following:

• Extending the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the U.S.

• Changing the terms of employment for current H-1B workers.

• Allowing current H-1B workers to change employers.

• Allowing current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.

USCIS also encourages that H-1B applicants subscribe to the H-1B Cap Season email updates located on their H-1B Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Cap Season page.