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On 22 December 2009 US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that all 65,000 H-1B cap subject visas have all been fully used up for the fiscal year of 2010. Any H-1B visa applications properly filed by 21 December 2009 will be subject to a computer generated random selection process. Unfortunately, this means that some properly completed H-1B visa petitions will be returned. The fact that all H-1B visas have now been used may be a sign of economic recovery in the US.
In 2007 and 2008 it only took a week for all H-1B visas to be used up. In 2009 it took nine months. It is interesting to note that 42,000 applications were received by April 2009. However, demand went down during the Summer, but then went up again in October.
There were an additional 20,000 H-1Bs for overseas workers with advanced degrees. All these visas were used up 25 October 2009. In 2008 all such visas were used up by Mid May.
In the 1990s due to substantial demand from the technology sector many more H-1B visas were made available. In 2001 163,000 out of 195,000 H-1Bs were used. In 2004 Congress reduced the cap to 65,000 plus 20,000 for those with advanced degrees.
Companies in the financial sector who benefitted from Government funds during the recent economic crisis were barred from applying for H-1B visas. This significantly reduced demand in 2009.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez announced legislation on 15 December 2008 that would increase the annual H-1B visas cap. Also, U.S. companies would be able to use 309,500 unused H-1B visas from previous years. This is part of a comprehensive immigration bill sponsored by Gutierrez and about 90 members of the House.
The H-1B visa is a controversial visa with some people claiming that it is used by companies to recruit overseas workers at lower salary costs than American workers. However, it also has to be said that many companies have experienced serious difficulties due to the inability to recruit enough skilled overseas professionals to meet their needs. There are simply not enough H-1Bs available.
