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Approximately 20,500 United States H-1B non-immigrant visa applications have been lodged as of 15 July 2011, leaving an estimated 44,500 regular H-1B visas available for Fiscal Year 2012.
An additional 20,000 H-1B visas are made available each year for people who hold a Masters degree or higher. 12,800 have already been lodged during FY 2012, leaving 7,200 available.
H-1B visas allow US companies to hire foreign nationals on a temporary basis in a specialty occupation. There is a Congressional yearly cap of 65,000 visas under the regular cap. These days H-1B visas are available during almost the whole year. This was not always the case. Before the economic downturn of 2008 visas were used up in as little as one day.
The best visa for graduate level staff is likely to be the H-1B visa. However, this can be expensive and difficult to obtain. Employers are frequently put off by the cost of the H-1B and H-1B regulations relating to wage rates. The employer needs to keep records relating to the wage rates, working conditions, etc.
For more information on H-1B visas, see out US immigration section.
