For Fiscal Year 2011, the cap of 65,000 may be reached before the end of 2010. As of 5 November 2010, 46,800 H1B visa applications had been filled.
USCIS fiscal year starts from 1 October and ends on 30 September, which means visas are available from 1 October to 30 September each year. For 2011, visas became available on 1 October 2010, and will be available until 30 September 2011 unless the limit of 65,000 visas is exhausted before that.
The current annual cap on the H1B category is 65,000. Not all H-1B non-immigrants are subject to this annual cap. Unused numbers in this pool are made available for H-1B use for the next fiscal year.
The H1B visa is an employment based, non-immigrant visa category for temporary workers. U.S. businesses use the H1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields, such as scientists, engineers, or computer programmers. To obtain an H1B visa, you must find an employer offer you a job and apply for your H1B visa petition with USCIS. This approved petition is a work permit which allows you to obtain a visa stamp and work in the US for that employer.
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