The latest Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 cap statistics from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) indicates the rise in the demand of the H-1B visa in October.

USCIS has recently stated that it has received 20,000 H-1B petitions for U.S. advanced degrees holders and the advanced degree quota has now been exhausted. USCIS will continue to accept regular H-1B petitions for FY2010 employment.

As of October 30, 2009, USCIS has received approximately 53,800 H-1B cap-subject petitions. USCIS has approved sufficient H-1B petitions for foreign nationals with advanced degrees to meet the exemption of 20,000 from the fiscal year 2010 cap. Any H1-B petitions filed on behalf of an alien with an advanced degree will now count toward the general H1-B cap of 65,000. USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.

After a long period of slow movement, the demand of H-1B visa for FY2010 employment is gradually increasing. It is expected that the H-1B visa demand will continue to rise especially as the December graduation season approaches and the economic outlook improves.