Information For H-1Bs Approved Under The H-1B Cap

or fiscal year (FY) 2023, the annual H-1B quota for 85,000 H-1Bs was met as of August 23, 2022, and on October 1, 2022, those H-1Bs that were approved as change-of-status petitions went into effect. To obtain H-1B status for the first time, a foreign national is required to go through the annual H-1B quota process, and selection is dependent on a randomized lottery system.

If selected, the petitions can be prepared with two options to activate H-1B status:

• Change of status. A change of status is a request to automatically change the status of a foreign national who is already in the United States to H-1B on October 1, 2022, or the date of the petition's approval, whichever is later. This means that without any additional action or steps taken by the foreign national, upon the petition's approval, the individual's status will change from a prior nonimmigrant status to H-1B. Travel while a change-of-status petition is pending may cause the change-of-status