The H-1B visa cap for the financial year 2024, beginning October 1, has been reached and all successful applicants have been informed about it, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has said.
The federal agency said in a statement on March 27 that it had received enough electronic registrations during the initial period to reach the H-1B numerical allocations (H-1B cap), including the master's cap for advanced degree exemptions, for the fiscal year 2024.
"We have randomly selected from the registrations properly submitted to reach the cap and have notified all prospective petitioners with selected registrations that they are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for the beneficiary named in the applicable selected registration," it said.
If based on a valid, selected registration, H-1B cap-subject petitions for the fiscal year 2024, including those petitions qualifying for the advanced degree exemption, may be filed with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from April 1, 2023.
The USCIS noted that only petitioners with selected registrations are permitted to submit H-1B cap-subject petitions for the fiscal year 2024, and only for the beneficiary named in the relevant selected registration notice.
The US Congress has set the current annual regular cap for the H-1B category at 65,000.
Of this, 6,800 visas are set aside under the terms of the legislation implementing the US-Chile and US-Singapore free trade agreements. Unused visas in this category become eligible for use under the standard H-1B cap for the next fiscal year.
A group of influential lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan legislation in the US Senate to comprehensively overhaul the H-1B and L-1 visa programmes and usher in more transparency in the recruitment of foreign workers.
According to a media release, the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act will reduce fraud and abuse in the immigration system, provide protections for American workers and visa holders, and require more transparency in the recruitment of foreign workers.
The legislation proposes to place new wage, recruitment and attestation requirements on employers looking to hire L-1 and H-1B workers, and employers seeking to hire H-1B employees to post those jobs on the Department of Labour (DOL) website, it said.