H1-B cap
There is a limit to the amount of visas granted to foreign workers. There is currently a new proposal to change the way the selection process is done.
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What is the limit for the H1-B cap?
There is a set number of visas allotted through lottery by the U.S. government for each fiscal year. The total for the fiscal year of 2018 is 85,000 visas.
This is split in two separate fields:
- 65,000 towards the H-1B regular cap; and
- 20,000 to the H-1B Master’s Exemption (commonly known as the “advanced degree exemption”) which is defined as those who hold a master’s degree or higher through a U.S. institution.
- There is no cap for employers who are an institution of higher education, a nonprofit research organization, or a government research organization.
What is the lottery?
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) reported on March 27, 2017 that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed that there will be a lottery held for H-1B visas if enough petitions are received between April 3-7, 2017 to reach the 65,000 statutory H-1B cap and the 20,000 master’s cap for Fiscal Year 2018.
AILA explained: “As in the past, a random computer selection will be run first for those petitions under the 20,000 master’s cap exemption. Any petitions not selected for the master’s cap will then be included in the random selection process for the 65,000 regular cap.”
In recent years, the number of applications has far exceeded the Congressional cap, which is set at 65,000 visas for each fiscal year, with an additional 20,000 visas available for foreign nationals with advanced U.S. degrees. When the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has received enough petitions to reach the statutory limit, submissions are closed and applications are selected at random in what is referred to as the H-1B lottery.