Over 11,000 H-1B slots still up for grabs in US

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Nov 12 (PTI) Over 11,000 H-1B visa slots,
once the most sought-after among Indian professionals, are
still vacant against the Congress-mandated cap of 65,000 for
the fiscal 2010, according to US immigration authorities.
"As of October 30, approximately 53,800 H-1B cap-subject
petitions had been filed," the US Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS) said.
This is against the Congressionally-mandated cap of
65,000 H-1B visas for this year.
This is for the first time in several years that
thousands of H-1B visas are still to be filled up. In previous
years, the entire visa slots used to be grabbed on day one.
Many a times, the USCIS had to resort to a computerised
lottery to determine the successful candidates.
The USCIS also announced that it has approved sufficient
H1-B petitions for aliens with advanced degrees to meet the
exemption of 20,000 from the fiscal year 2010 cap.
"Any H1-B petitions filed on behalf of an alien with an
advanced degree will now count toward the general H1-B cap of
65,000," it said.
"USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions
and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of
H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory
limits, taking into account the fact that some of these
petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn," it said. PTI
LKJ
DDC