H-1B CAP Reached for Fiscal Year 2010

On December 22, 2009, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it has reached the H-1B statutory cap for Fiscal Year 2010 as of December 21, 2009.  A lottery will be held for all cap-subject petitions received on December 21, 2009, and the USCIS will reject all petitions subject to the statutory cap not randomly selected by the USCIS’ computer generated program or received after December 21, 2009.

Current H-1B visa holders will not be affected by the statutory cap and the USCIS will continue processing petitions to: extend stays of current H-1B holders; modify and/or change the terms of employment of current H-1B holders; allow current H-1B holders to change employers unless the change involves a switch from a cap-exempt to a non-exempt employer; allow current H-1B holders to obtain concurrent employment authorization with another employer; and work at exempt entities such as institutions of higher education and related/affiliated organizations.