H-1B Cap Reached for FY 2014

United States Citizenship and  Immigration Services ("USCIS") announced that the numerical limitations have been reached for FY 2014. This means that all H-1B Petitions for Nonimmigrant Workers received between April 1 and April 5 will be placed in a lottery. Only 65,000 visa slots are available for H-1B highly skilled workers. USCIS also received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the 20,000 United States advanced degree worker exemption. USCIS has announced that it will no longer accept cap-subject petitions for FY 2014. Any employer attempting to hire a highly skilled foreign worker in a specialty occupation under the H-1B classification will need to wait until April 1, 2014 to petition for approval. The lottery system has not been used since 2008. If you have questions about the H-1B visa or hiring highly skilled foreign workers, please contact the BrownWinick attorney with whom you work.