News Regarding FY2017 H-1B Cap
This is a follow up to our prior H-1B cap email of January 4, 2016. USCIS will begin accepting filings toward the FY2017 H-1B cap on April 1, 2016. Informal reports indicate that the cap is expected to be reached right away. USCIS has not made any predictions as to when the H-1B cap may be hit, but has indicated that it always plans for the possibility of the need to conduct a random lottery for petitions filed within the first 5 business days of April.
Therefore, if you have not already done so, it is important that any potential H-1B cap cases be opened as soon as possible. As a reminder, the Labor Condition Applications (LCAs) are taking a minimum of seven calendar days for DOL certification and we are required to have a certified LCA in order to file an H-1B petition.
Recruiters should be made aware of the H-1B cap predictions as they are reviewing candidates who will need H-1B status for continued employment authorization in the U.S. Companies employing F-1 students whose OPT period expires between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017 should plan on filing H-1B petitions as soon as the cap opens to help ensure the student’s continued work authorization. For information on immigration regulations that extend a student’s OPT work authorization, please see FAQs: H-1B Cap Gap Extension for F-1 Students and 17-month STEM OPT Extension
Once the numbers are used up for this fiscal year, there will not be any additional H-1B numbers until October 1, 2017.
For information on the H-1B cap and which petitions are subject to the cap, please see: