On April 2, 2012, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began accepting petitions for H-1B nonimmigrant visas for Fiscal Year 2013. The USCIS has already received 17,400 H-1B applications toward the annual cap of 65,000. It has also received 8,200 petitions toward the 20,000 cap for exempt applicants with advanced degrees.
Last year, the H-1B visa cap was not met until November 22, 2011. However, early filing projections suggest bigger volumes and that the cap may be met sooner than last year.