H1B Visa (FY-2019)

While many regulations like increasing the H1B wage to 130K USD, Pre-registration of petitions and picking them by salary offered & qualification, increasing H1B cap, etc. have been discussed extensively and either part of the current H1B bills that are in process or Fall 2017 Regulatory agenda, none of these will be implemented for the H1B 2019 season.

How many H-1B Visas are available for the FY-2019 Quota?

58,200 (65,000 minus 6,800 taken out for Chile and Singapore H-1Bs) H-1B Visas are available per year in the Bachelor’s degrees quota.

20,000 H-1B Visas are available per year in the U.S. Master’s degrees quota.

When can I file my H-1B Visa Petition with USCIS?

Monday, April 2nd, 2018 is the first day USCIS will accept H-1B petitions for quota (cap) subject cases for FY (Fiscal Year) 2019, commencing October 1, 2018.

Because demand for H-1B workers remains high the quota likely will be filled in the first 5 business days of April.

Friday, April 6th, 2018 is likely the last day USCIS will accept H-1B petitions for quota (cap) subject cases for FY (Fiscal Year) 2019.

USCIS is required to accept petitions received during the first five business days of April.  With April 1^st 2018 being a Sunday, the fifth business day will be Friday, April 6, meaning petitions must be sent via Next Day Delivery no later than Thursday April 5^th 2018.

U.S. Master’s cap petitions will be sorted from non-U.S. Master’s cases and subjected to the random process to select the 20,000 that will be processed.

All cases not selected as part of the U.S. Master’s lottery will be entered into the bachelor’s cap lottery, in which 58,200 cases (65,000 minus 6,800 carved out for Chile and Singapore H-1Bs) will be subjected to the random system to select those that will be adjudicated.

My Law, LLC                                            

Immigration & Tax Law Firm

www.mylawllc.com

Phone: (630) 903-9625

1700 Park Street, Suite 203

Naperville, IL 60563

E-mail: attorney@mylawllc.com