U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year 2018 cap on April 3, 2017. All cap-subject H-1B petitions received before April 3, 2017, for the FY 2018 cap will be rejected.
Congress set a cap of 65,000 H-1B visas per fiscal year. An advanced-degree exemption from the H-1B cap is available for 20,000 beneficiaries who have earned a U.S. master’s degree or higher. The agency said it will monitor the number of petitions received and notify the public when the H-1B cap has been met.
USCIS also recently announced a temporary suspension of premium processing for all H-1B petitions starting April 3 for up to six months. While H-1B premium processing is suspended, petitioners will not be able to file Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, for a Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker that requests the H-1B nonimmigrant classification. While premium processing is suspended, any I-907 filed with an H-1B petition will be rejected, USCIS said. If the petitioner submits one combined check for both the I-907 and I-129 H-1B fees, both forms will be rejected.
USCIS reminded H-1B petitioners to follow all statutory and regulatory requirements as they prepare petitions to avoid delays in processing and possible requests for evidence. The I-129 filing fee has increased to $460, and petitioners no longer have 14 days to correct a dishonored payment. If any fee payments are not honored by the bank or financial institution, USCIS will reject the entire H-1B petition without the option for the petitioner to correct it.
The USCIS announcement about the April 3 start date for FY 2018 H-1B petitions is at https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-will-accept-h-1b-petitions-fiscal-year-2018-beginning-april-3. The announcement about the suspension of premium processing for H-1B petitions is at https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-will-temporarily-suspend-premium-processing-all-h-1b-petitions. Detailed information on how to complete and submit an FY 2018 H-1B petition is at https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/m-735.pdf. For more information on the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program and current I-129 processing times, see https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/h-1b-specialty-occupations-and-fashion-models/h-1b-fiscal-year-fy-2018-cap-season.