Fiscal Year 2013 H-1B Quota Reached

On Tuesday, June 12, 2012, United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that as of Monday, June 11, 2012 it had received sufficient H-1B petitions to meet the regular H-1B quota (or "cap") for Fiscal Year 2013, which will begin on October 1, 2012 and end on September 30, 2013. USCIS also announced that it has received sufficient H-1B petitions to meet the Master's H-1B cap. Both H-1B caps have now been reached.

As a result, USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions received after Monday, June 11 for new H-1B workers seeking an employment start date in Fiscal Year 2013. Based on previous USCIS policy, we expect that USCIS will apply a computer-generated random selection process to all cap-subject petitions that USCIS received on June 11. If that is the case, USCIS should provide lottery results by late June.

For additional background information on the H-1B visa program and the cap, please visit our previous One Minute Memo: "H-1B Work Permit Filings: Will You Beat the Cap?"

If you have any questions regarding this One Minute Memo, please contact the Seyfarth Shaw attorney with whom you work, or any immigration attorney on our website.