New procedural notes for H-1B Visa

On July 7, 2014, U.S. Department of State announced that H-1B beneficiaries with an October 1, 2014 start of employment date may start filing their Visa applications now.

As you may already know, the H-1B program is used to employ qualified foreign workers that possess necessary professional skills and specialized knowledge. Some of the most prominent areas that often utilize H-1Bs are biotech, science, engineering, and computer programming.

Because only 65000 H-1B visas are allowed per one fiscal year, employers must file H-1B petitions in a timely manner. As past practice shows, cap on H-1Bsb was reached on June 1^st, 2011 for FY 2012, on June 12^th, 2012 for FY 2013, and on April 5^th, 2013 for the fiscal year 2014

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Thanks to the new procedural notes released by the Department of State, U.S. Consular posts are authorized to issue H-1B Visas 90 days in advance of the applicant’s start date of employment. In other words, starting from July 1^st, 2014 applicants whose employment starts on October 1^st, 2014 may file their visa applications to obtain H-1B visa stamp. However, applicants must remember that they can enter the U.S. only 10 days prior to the start of employment.

Our advice is to start filing visa applications early!