On December 21, 2009 the USCIS announced that it had received sufficient H1B petitions to fill the fiscal year 2010 quota. All petitions accepted prior to December 20. 2009 will be accepted and processed normally. USCIS will apply a computer-generated random selection process to all petitions that are subject to the cap and were received on December 21, 2009. No new petitions that are subject to the cap will be accepted for processing.

The annual quota remained open longer this year than it has in any of the last six years – 280 days. Last year, it closed in one day. Two years ago, it closed in two days. In 2007, it closed after 56 days, 132 days in 2006, and 184 days in 2005. Only 2004 saw the quota remain open longer – 323 days.

Several theories have been advanced attempting to explain the reason or reasons for the extended period the quota remained available this year. For example, many people feel that the slow economy was responsible for the extended period of H1B availability. Others feel that many companies, unsure of a steady supply of critical workers, have simply given up and sent their work offshore. Still others believe that the recent USCIS policy of extreme scrutiny of all H1B petitions is responsible. Most likely, the answer is a combination of all of these theories.

The USCIS will begin accepting new H1B petitions for the fiscal year 2011 quota on April 1, 2010. We plan to publish articles on the special issues that will present during the new H1B filing season. We believe that it is highly unlikely that the H1B quota will become exhausted in the first few days or weeks following April 1^st. It is possible, however, that with the economy recovering and employers adapting to the new levels of scrutiny, the FY2011 quota will become exhausted much more quickly that this past year’s (FY2010) quota.