USCIS Reports that Fiscal Year 2011 H-1B Cap has been Reached

For employers in the United States seeking to hire professionals, one pool of applicants has been closed off for Fiscal Year 2011. The H-1B visa, available to professional companies seeking to employ a foreign individual in a professional position, is capped each year at a total of 65,000 visas for the entire country. The United States Citizenship & Immigration Service announced on January 27, 2011 that is has received enough petitions to meet the cap and will no longer take new ones. There are an additional 20,000 visas set aside for individuals with a United States earned Master’s Degree with an offer of employment in a position that requires a Master’s Degree, and that cap was reached on December 22, 2010 for Fiscal Year 2011.

Unfortunately, this continues to hinder free market professionalism during a lingering economic downturn. Companies are now unable to hire an employee if he/she is foreign born and does not have authorization to be employed in the United States. This loss tends to force individuals who are educated in the United States out of our job market and therefore out of the United States professional pool, making employers lose a competitive edge. In order for the United States to continue to participate in the global economy and increase our competitiveness, we must reform our immigration system to show that we do in fact want the best and the brightest here, using their knowledge and professional skills for United States corporations and small businesses.

http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=34289

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