US H-1B Visas Yearly Limit for 2024 Exhausted, USCIS Says. What Should You Do Now?

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed this week that it has reached its yearly limit for H-1B visas, the Livemint said in a report. The non-immigrant visa which permits American employers to hire foreign workers with specialized skills in the US for a specific period of time is in high demand in India as well as other countries.

The USCIS said that it received a sufficient number of visas which shall meet both the regular cap of 65,000 and the US advanced degree exemption, also known as the master’s degree cap. The master’s degree cap is set at 20,000.

The Livemint report also said that allotted H-1B visas for fiscal year 2024 were exhausted.

The US last month said they will begin a pilot programme for domestic renewal of certain categories of H-1B visas in December, a move that will benefit a large number of Indian tech professionals. The pilot programme will, however, be limited to only 20,000 participants.

Seeking H-1B Visa

The USCIS said those who submitted their applications for the H-1B visa but remain unselected, non-selection notices will be issued to them through their online accounts. The status will show ‘Not Selected’ and also render them ineligible for file an H-1B visa cap petition for this registration. “We will send non-selection notices to registrants through their online accounts over the next few days,” the USCIS said.

The USCIS goes through information gathered during the electronic registration process to determine if an H-1B visa falls under this cap. This also includes the standard 65,000 H-1B visas and an exemption for advanced degree holders until they surpass 20,000.

The annual regular cap for the H-1B category is set at 65,000. There are 6,800 such visas reserved for the H-1B1 program under the US-Chile and US-Singapore free trade agreements (FTAs). The unused visas in this category are made available for the next fiscal year under regular H-1B cap.

The USCIS, however, informed that they will continue to accept and process petitions exempt from the cap. This shall include current H-1B workers who still retain their cap number.

These H1-B visa petitions serve several purposes such as extending duration of stay, changing terms of employment, facilitating employer changes while allowing concurrent work in additional H-1B positions.