The CIS issues 65,000 H-1B visas per year. 6,800 of those are set aside each year for citizens of Chile and Singapore. Thus, the CIS only counts 58,200 H-1B petitions when determining if the “cap” has been reached. This year, the CIS announced that it received 133,000 H-1B petitions during the first two days of open filing for fiscal year 2008. All petitions received the first two days were placed into a random selection “lottery” process to determine which would be accepted for filing. Those not selected were returned as un-filed. New cap-subject H-1B petitions may be accepted beginning April 1, 2008 for fiscal year 2009. The United States' fiscal year begins October 1 of each year.

Click here to view CIS Announcement dated 4-3-07

By Martha James