FY 2021 H1B Cap Reached

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it has received sufficient number of petitions needed to reach the FY 2021 H1B cap. USCIS has received sufficient number of petitions needed to reach both the statutory annual H1B Cap of 65,000 under the general category, as well as the 20,000 under the U.S. advanced degree exemption category (popularly known as the “H1B Masters Cap”). USCIS has also completed sending non-selection notifications to registrants’ online accounts and the status for registrations properly submitted, but not selected in the FY 2021 H1B lottery, is now shown as “Not Selected: Not selected for this fiscal year.”

While the FY 2021 H1B Cap has reached, USCIS will continue to accept petitions that are H1B Cap exempt, including H1B petitions filed:

• on behalf of current H1B workers who have been counted previously against the H1B Cap, and who still retain their Cap number;
• to extend the stay of a current H1B worker;
• to change the terms of employment for current H1B workers;
• to allow current H1B workers to change employers; and
• to allow current H1B workers to work concurrently in a second H1B position.

USCIS has also announced that the initial registration period for FY 2022 H1B cap will open on March 9 and will be open till March 25. Employers seeking to file H1B cap petitions this year must first electronically register and pay the H1B registration fee for each beneficiary during this initial registration period.

If you have any questions regarding the H1B visa program, or need help filing an H1B petition, contact VisaPro Law Firm today. VisaPro attorneys helped clients’ secure near 100% approval with H1B cap filings in the past 5 years. We’ll talk through your priorities and recommend strategies for March 2021 H1B registrations based on our attorney’s prior success.