How does the H-1B Visa Quota System Work?
U.S. immigration law currently provides only 65,000 H-1B visas for every U.S. government fiscal year, which begins on October 1. Also, 6,800 of the total number (i.e., more than 10% of the worldwide quota) are set aside for workers from Chile and Singapore under terms of U.S. trade agreements with those two countries. For Fiscal Year 2010 (October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010), the worldwide H-1B quota of 65,000 is likely to be reached the first day that CIS begins accepting petitions on April 1, 2009 for the October 1, 2009 start date. (Although the fiscal year starts on October 1, CIS allows H-1B petitions to be filed up to six months in advance of the H-1B start date; that is why the filing gate opens on April 1.) For Fiscal Year 2008 and Fiscal Year 2009, the H-1B visa quota was reached on April 1, 2007the very first day the CIS began accepting H-1B petitions for that year. (In accordance with CIS regulations, even though the quota was met on the very first day of filing, CIS cond
