The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has posted an update on the number of H-1B petitions received for fiscal year 2007.  The update report indicates that, as of April 28, 2006, USCIS had received 16,737 H-1B petitions eligible for the primary H-1B numbers and 2,884 petitions covered by the H-1B Advanced Degree Exemption.  These numbers indicate that USCIS is receiving approximately 1,000 H-1B petitions toward the primary cap each day, suggesting that the cap will be reached much earlier this year than last year, when the regular cap was not reached until August 10.  Please note that a link to the USCIS' H-1B cap count can be found on the Quick Access Tools drop down menu on our home page.

Jackson & Hertogs advises employers to immediately file H-1B petitions for any foreign workers who do not have employment authorization beyond October 1, 2007.  The only exception would be for those foreign hires who already hold H-1B status and have already been counted against the H-1B cap.  (Note: those in H-1B status working for universities or non-profit research facilities have likely not had their H-1B visas count against the cap, and thus likely remain subject to this year's H-1B cap.)  Once this fiscal year's H-1B cap is reached, new H-1B petitions will not be accepted by the USCIS until April 1, 2007, and the earliest validity date that will be available on those petitions will be October 1, 2007.

If you believe that you have any employees or would-be employees who need H-1B status for FY2007, please contact our office immediately. Jackson & Hertogs will continue to provide updates as new information become available.

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