The immigration community is preparing itself for the exhaustion of the H-1B cap. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) most recent count shows that as of April 13, 2012 approximately 20,600 H-1B cap-subject petitions were received out of the 65,000 available visa numbers. Of the 20,000 separate allotment of H-1B visas for workers with advanced degrees, 9,700 have already been accepted. Each week larger numbers of H-1B petitions are being filed with USCIS. At this rate, many expect H-1B visa numbers will be exhausted by the end of May.

While this is a promising signal that the economy is heating up, employers and H-1B workers will have to scramble for the last remaining visa numbers until Congress acts to increase the quota. Since the quota is expected to be reached fairly soon, H-1B petition preparations should be their final stages. Those people looking for petitioners should intensify their job search right now to ensure sufficient time for an H-1B petition to be prepared for filing before the end of the year.

Approximately six years ago, immigrant visa numbers for skilled workers began retrogressing. The skilled worker group includes registered nurses (RNs) and physical therapists (PTs). In 2006, employers petitioned RNs and PTs to fill those positions for which there is an acute shortage. These petitions, combined with those for other skilled workers, created a huge demand for visa numbers resulting in the current six-year backlog.