Recent Developments in Immigration Law

H-1B Filings for FY 2007 Have Started

Beginning April 1, 2006, employers have been able to file H-1B petitions subject to the FY 2007 cap, requesting an H-1B employment start date of October 1, 2006. As our recent Immigration Alerts have advised, the FY 2006 H-1B cap was reached on August 10, 2005. Since that date, employers had been ineligible to file H-1B petitions on behalf of their cap-subject foreign national workers (the cap does not apply to most changes of H-1B employer and H-1B extensions of stay, among other exceptions).

Because the H-1B cap is being reached more quickly each year (USCIS received nearly 1,900 H-1B petitions between April 1 and April 3 this year), it is important to file H-1B petitions as soon as possible. It is critical to review your employment needs to identify candidates that require H-1B sponsorship to continue to work. For example, if you currently employ, or intend to employ, any foreign national workers who are in F-1 student status and have optical