As an addition update for the Fy2012 H1B visa season that commenced April 1, 2011 we have had slow growth in the overall H1B visa quota numbers throughout the year and again like FY2011, we are about to go into the following US Immigration year.
September is the last month of the US Immigration year and October 1st is the start of the new year otherwise known as FY2012. That means if you have already been approved for an H1B visa since April 1, 2011, your new visa takes effect next month. It also means that you if you are sponsored now, given how long the application process takes even with premium processing, you will be able to start working immediately which is a great selling point for foreigners to a prospective employer and sponsor as opposed to earlier in the year.
So as of September 9, 2011, which is the most recent H1B quota update the USCIS has announced. There are currently 32,200 petitions to count towards the general 65,000 H1B visa cap which only includes petitions that are approved or pending.
Anything that has already been denied is not included.
Additionally at September 9, 16,700 petitions have been received for the US Advanced Degree exemption quota portion of 20,000. It should be noted that if the advanced degree quota fills up, then those petitions go into the pool for the regular 65,000 cap.
This equates to about a 7.000 increase in the main cap since the last USCIS update on August 12 and a 2,000 increase in the Advanced Degree Exemption category. Given over half of the main cap still is remaining the opportunities still exist as they have for the past 2 years for foreigners right through the rest of 2011 to find employers and most likely it will continue into 2012
| Cap Type | Cap Amount | Cap Eligible Petitions | Date of Last Count |
| H-1B Regular Cap | 65,000 | 32,200 | 9/9/2011 |
| H-1B Master’s Exemption | 20,000 | 16,700 | 9/9/2011 |
(It should be noted that the related H-1B1 visa for Chilean and Singaporean citizens are not included in this cap)
So it would seem that there is plenty of visas still available and judging by the moderate amount of applications received thus far, traditional H1B visa sponsor companies are still nowhere the levels of hiring they were in 2006-8,
Good Luck to All Who Are Searching!
Cj
Hi Cj,
So according to the update, Chileans and Singaporeans are not capped and will be granted H1-B visas?
No Chileans and Singaporeans have their own small cap for the H-1B1 visa but it is rarely filled each year.