Update on U.S. Department of Labor H-1B Nonimmigrant Worker Visa Training Grant Program and H-1B Visa Cap

No H-1B fees are being used to fund the H-1B training grant program overseen by the Labor Department from 2000-2004. In FY 04, $100 million of accumulated fees allocated for that training program were rescinded from the Labor Department budget. The Department made its last awards on January 5, 2004; no competitions have been held since and none are expected.

On August 12, 2005, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provided clarification for certain aspects of the H-1B program:

• USCIS has received enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap of 65,000 visas for FY 06.
• The “final receipt date” for FY 06 petitions was August 10, 2005. Remaining visa petitions received on August 10, 2005 will be subject to a random selection process necessary to identify the exact number of visas needed to meet the cap. After the random selection process, any remaining H-1B petitions that do not receive an FY 06 number will be rejected and returned along with the filing fees.
• Of the 65,000-visa cap for FY 06, 6,800 are set aside under terms of the U.S.-Chile and U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreements. Thus, the total general H-1B cap number available for FY 06 is 58,200.
• The earliest date to file for an FY 07 H-1B visa is April 1, 2006.
• The first 20,000 H-1B petitions for aliens that have a U.S.-earned master’s or higher degree are exempt from the cap. For FY 05 and 06, USCIS has received 10,000 and 8,000 of such petitions respectively.
• Petitions for H-1B employment at an institution of higher education or a related or affiliated non-profit, nonprofit research organizations, or a governmental research organization are not subject to the annual cap at all, and may still be filed for work dates in FY 05 or FY 06.

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