USCIS announced, at approximately 8:00 pm on October 1, 2004, the first day of Fiscal Year 2005, that it has enough H-1Bs in the pipeline to meet the Fiscal Year 2005 cap. All cap-subject cases received after the end of the business day October 1 will be returned.

Petitioners may re-submit their petitions when H-1B visas become available for Fiscal Year 2006. The earliest date a petitioner may file a petition requesting Fiscal Year 2006 H-1B employment with an employment start date of October 1, 2005, would be April 1, 2005.

As a reminder, petitions for current H-1B workers do not count towards the congressionally mandated H-1B cap. The following are petitions USCIS will continue to process:

1. Petitions to extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the United States;
2. Change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;
3. Allow current H-1B workers to change employers; and
4. Allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.

Note that petitions for new H-1B employment are not subject to the annual cap if the foreign national will be employed at an institution of higher education or a related or affiliated nonprofit entity, or at a nonprofit research organization or a governmental research organization.