It’s H-1B season! As a reminder to employers in the tech industry and other sectors that rely on H-1B workers, employers must file their H-1B petitions April 1, 2016 to try to obtain one of the limited H-1Bs with a start date of October 1, 2016.

There are a total of 85,000 H-1B visas available each year, with 20,000 of those reserved for individuals who obtained a master’s degree or higher in the U.S.  During the first week of April last year, USCIS received nearly 233,000 petitions, up from the 172,500 petitions received in 2014. As such, time is of the essence. Please contact us now if you have employees currently on working on OPT or if you are recruiting foreign nationals and you would like to submit an H-1B visa on their behalf.