USCIS begins accepting H-1B petitions for FY2017

On April 1, 2016, USCIS began accepting H-1B petitions for FY2017. In keeping with the trend of the last several years, USCIS confirmed it expects to receive more than the congressionally mandated cap of 85,000 petitions from employers within the first five business days of April (this year, April 1st - April 7th). The cap consists of 65,000 H-1B visas available for beneficiaries with at least bachelor's degree or equivalent and an additional 20,000 H-1B visas for beneficiaries with a U.S. master's degree or higher. After April 7th, the agency will use a computer-generated lottery system to randomly select the 85,000 petitions for adjudication. Last year USCIS received over 233,000 H-1B petitions in the first five business days of April. For updates on when USCIS reaches the cap, the lottery, start date for premium processing, and other H-1B related news, visit USCIS's H-1B FY2017 site and look for breaking news on our website's news and updates section.