Washington, December 15:
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Wednesday that it has reached the congressionally-mandated cap for the H-1B visa for the fiscal year 2024. This includes both the 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa US advanced degree exemption, commonly known as the master’s cap.
The H-1B visa, a non-immigrant work visa, permits US employers to hire foreign workers with specialized skills for a specific period. The USCIS stated that it will notify registrants who were not selected for the visa program through their online accounts in the coming days.
While the regular cap has been met, the USCIS emphasized its commitment to accepting and processing petitions exempt from the cap. “Petitions filed for current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap, and who still retain their cap number, are exempt from the FY 2024 H-1B cap,” the USCIS stated.
Typically, a significant majority, approximately 75%, of H-1B visas granted annually go to workers from India. These professionals are often hired by major US tech companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, as well as leading IT services firms like Infosys, TCS, and Wipro.
