[author: Rachel Coyne]

USCIS has announced that it will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2017 cap on April 1, 2016. The congressionally mandated cap on H-1B visas is 65,000. The first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed for individuals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher are exempt from the 65,000 cap. USCIS expects to receive more than 65,000 petitions within the first five business days of this year’s program, and the agency will notify the public when the H-1B cap has been reached. H-1B petitioners may still request premium processing together with their petition. Premium processing will begin no later than May 16, 2016

For more information on filing and premium processing, please visit USCIS’ press release.

Rachel is an intern with the firm and is not a practicing attorney.