H-1B Filing Window For FY 2019 Will Open On April 2

 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin to accept H-1B petitions subject to the annual quota for fiscal year 2019 (FY 2019) on April 2, 2018. As the filing window approaches, employers may want to identify current and future employees who may require new H-1B visas to work in the United States.

Given that the number of new H-1B visas available on an annual basis is limited to 65,000 per year, with an additional 20,000 available to H-1B applicants that possess advanced degrees from U.S. academic institutions and 6,800 reserved for citizens of Chile and Singapore, employers will want to prepare to file their cap-subject petitions as early as possible to help ensure a successful filing during this year's H-1B cap window. Similarly to recent years, FY 2019's filing window will likely only be one week in duration.