Currently there is a quota of 85,000 new H-1B visas each year (65,000 plus an additional 20,000 for those with U.S. advanced degrees).  However, there is a demand for well over twice that number.

In 2007, more than 133,000 petitions (twice the available quota) were received during the first two filing days, and even the quota for those with U.S. advanced degrees was exhausted within a few weeks.

April 1, 2008 will be the first day the USCIS will accept H-1B petitions for the 2008-2009 fiscal year (commencing October 1, 2008).  We expect all available visas, even those allocated to people with U.S. advanced degrees, to be used up the very first day.

Accordingly, we are preparing to file new H-1B petitions by courier on March 31, 2008, so they arrive at the USCIS on April 1.  March will therefore be a very busy month for our firm and other immigration law firms as we make sure that all of our H-1B petitions are properly prepared and timely filed.

To avoid the last-minute time crunch, we plan to prepare the cases as early as possible, and are inviting new and existing clients to contact us now, open files, and begin the process of preparing their petitions.   

The H-1B quota does not apply to anyone who is already in H-1B status, or who was previously in H-1B status during the past six years.  It also does not apply to those who will be employed by (1) an institution of higher education; (2) a nonprofit entity related or affiliated with the institution of higher education; and (3) a nonprofit research organization or governmental research organization.  In a Memo issued on June 6, 2006, the USCIS expanded this exemption to employees of a private company who work at (but are not employed by) the exempt organization.