US to accept H-1B visa applications from April

The US will start accepting application for H-1B visa, the most sought after work visa by Indian IT professionals from April 1 this year, the federal agency USCIS announced.

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa which allows US employers to temporarily employ foreign workers.

With the improvement in the country’s economy, and based on the feed-back from companies, the US Citizens and Immigration Services (USCIS) said this year they expect to receive enough applications to fill up the congressionally mandated numbers in the first five days that is April 5.

If that happens, this would be for the first time since the economic crisis of 2008-2009 that the H-1B cap would be filled in the first few days itself.

The cap, or the limited number of H-1B visas that will be granted has been set at 65,000 for fiscal for the fiscal year beginning on October 1, 2013.

However, the first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of individuals with a US Master’s or higher degree are exempt from the cap of 65,000. Last year in 2012, it took 73 days for the USCIS to fill in the cap.