U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (US CIS) reported that as of April 9, 2012, 17,400 petitions had been received for the cap of 65,000 new H-1B visas that are available each year.

This total does not include the 6,800 visas set aside under U.S.-Chile and U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreements or the unused numbers in this allocation from the previous year.

U.S. CIS also reports that it has received 8,200 petitions against the U.S. Master's cap of 20,000. The fiscal year 2012 cap was met for both categories on November 22, 2011. It is currently anticipated that the FY 2013 cap will be reached much earlier, with some some estimates being as early as June 2012.

Once the H-1B cap is reached in both categories, no further H-1B petitions will be accepted until April 1, 2013. At that point, the earliest start date for new H-1B petitions will be October 1, 2013.

Therefore, if you have an interest in pursuing an H-1B petition for the 2013 fiscal year, please contact our office as soon as possible, in order to allow us to process your petition.

For more information on the FY2013 Cap Count, please click here.