Of the 65,000 H-1B visas issued by the US annually, 11,000 were lying vacant at the end of 2010.
The move may result in a short-term cost impact for IT Indian companies, according to experts, despite the firms ramping up their local hiring and offshoring projects elsewhere to overcome visa-related issues.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services said it has received approximately 49,000 H-1B petitions till August seven counting toward the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap, more than four months after it started accepting applications for visas for the 2010 fiscal beginning this October.
Until May 14, the USCIS had received 19,000 petitions in the general category and 8,100 in the advanced degree category.
Once the most sought after H-1B American work visa is still having nearly 20,000 slots open seven weeks after the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) started receiving applications for the financial year 2010 beginning October this year.
Subir Chowdhury, chairman and CEO of ASI Consulting Group, LLC, has been named for the 'Outstanding American by Choice Award' by the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) in recognition of his work and contributions to the US.
A year ago, when thousands of people were handed pink slips, the USCIS had received 42,000 H-1B applications.
The H-1B visas coveted by highly-skilled professionals mainly from India appear to be losing its sheen thanks to the economic downturn in the US when for the first time in years there were fewer takers even one week after authorities began accepting applications.
Like last year, the agency will receive applications between April 1 and April 5. If the cap is not reached, it will continue to accept applications for five more days.
The United States will start accepting the applications for H-1B visas, most sought after by Indians, from April one for the fiscal 2011.
Given the rate at which the USCIS has now been receiving the H-1B applications on a daily basis, officials said it would not be a surprise that they announce that the cap has been reached before the end of this year.
Latest figures released by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services show an increase in the number of people applying for H-1B visas in the last two months.
According to the latest figure update by US Citizenship and Immigration Services, approximately 46,700 of the H-1B visas in the general category were filled up by September 25; against a Congressional mandated figure of 65,000.
Primarily meant for computers and information technology professionals, the H-1B visas have been one of the most sought after for foreign professionals in previous years. The US Citizenship and Immigration Service has been receiving several times the number of the allocated quota. However, this year, the USCIS is struggling to fill up the 65,000 H-1B visas as mandated by the US Congress.
In a statement, USCIS said about 25,000 of the Congressional mandated 66,000 H2B visas are still left to be filled out for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009. On January 7, 2009 USCIS had announced to have received enough applications to fill Congressional mandated cap of 66,000 H-2B visas.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services has received only half the 65,000 H1-B applications it requires to fill up the general quota category in the first five day after it began receiving applications April 1.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting H-1B visa petitions for the fiscal year 2010 from Wednesday, April 1, 2009. Read on to find out all you wanted to know about H-1B visas.
Celebrations erupted across Assam with opponents of the bill bursting crackers, distributing sweets and breaking into frenzied dancing on the streets.
The bill will attempt to toughen the H-1B visa program.
Americans can adopt children orphaned by the December 26 quake and tsunamis in South Asia only when their countries of origin make them available for adoption, the US government has said.
Senators Grassley and Durbin release more data showing that Tata, Infosys, and others are using U.S. work visas to their advantage
Following the arrest of six ministry of home affairs officials in the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) bribery case, the foreigners division of MHA has been overhauled to break the chain of deep-rooted network.
The rush for these visas before the limit runs out is apparent from the fact that while 3,302 such visas were available on November 29, 2005 only 1,364 visas remain on offer at present.
In what can be good news for hundreds of Indian IT professionals seeking the H-1B work visa, the US' immigration agency has decided to conduct a rare second lottery for the most sought-after visas to decide on the successful applicants who could not make it in the first random selection. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said on Thursday that a decision was taken after determining that the computerised draw of lots for H-1B visas conducted early this year did not give them enough numbers of the Congressional mandated H-1B visas. The H-1B visa, the most sought-after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
This is the first time that the cap is reached on the first day of receiving the applications on April 2.
Narayanan said she did not have an opinion about Trump's immigration policies and added that she found out that the ceremony aired during the Republican Convention "only when an excited friend called her later that night and told her she was on television," the report said.
US visa expert Dr Arun Vakil explains how to apply for a US work visa.
The Congressional-mandated cap of 65,000 H-1B visas and another 20,000 in the advanced degree categories were reached within the first five days after USCIS started accepted H-1B applications in April.
Earlier, immigration regulations had set a more stringent standard on the maximum time in H or L status, whether as a worker or an employee.
Kamala Harris used her forceful presidential acceptance speech to present herself as a leader who could unite the country to chart a 'new way forward' and warned Americans of 'extremely serious' consequences of putting her Republican rival Donald Trump back in the White House.
The USCIS announcement indicated that the US government is going to be tough and stringent in approval of H-1B visas this year.
ITServe's lawsuit against the USCIS alleges that the agency has no authority to misinterpret the existing regulations and shorten the approval durations.
Obama announced to take a series of executive actions, including a shift of immigration enforcement resources.
The Trump administration is reportedly moving ahead with its decision not to give work permits to the spouses of H-1B visa-holders, arguing that this displaces genuine American workers.
Lower numbers signal that that companies, especially the technology services firms, are steadily reducing the dependency on non-immigrant visas.
US to start accepting H-1B petitions from April 1.
