H1-B visa cap reached |
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it has reached the mandated H1-B cap for the fiscal year 2017. The cap has been achieved within five working days of opening up the application process.The USCIS said that it has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the exemption for advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Since the number of applications have exceeded the total number of visas available, USCIS will award visas through lottery. H-1B is a non-immigrant category that allows employers to temporarily recruit foreign workers for jobs requiring special skills such as architecture, engineering, mathematics, physical sciences, social sciences and biotechnology. The US issues 85,000 such visas every year, though there is a provision for an additional 20,000 for people with advanced degrees from US universities in STEM subjects. USCIS received 250,000 applications for this year.
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