H1Bs Still Available for FY2005 under 20,000 Exemption Quota
Posted May 27, 2005
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Regular MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers know that 20,000 H1B exemptions for people with U.S. masters' degrees or above became available May 12, 2005. These 20,000 additional H1B cap exemptions are for fiscal year (FY) 2005 and will be available in subsequent fiscal years. Many people have expressed concern that these newly created H1B exemptions would run out quickly. Some even predicted that they would not even last more than a day, based on various comments from scholars and even the USCIS. We at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy are pleased to inform our readers that, as of May 24, 2005, many of the H1B numbers under the exemptions were still available. The USCIS has advised that they had received only 6,393 H1B requests under the 20,000 available exemptions as of May 20, 2005.
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The USCIS Notice did not indicate how many of these cases were "conversions" or "upgrades" from previously filed H1Bs that had requested FY2006 start dates of October 1, 2005 to an earlier start date in FY2005. We know that many people were interested in the possibility of filing these H1B conversions to avoid gaps in status, particularly when changing from student status to a first-time H1B status. The ability to get an earlier start date is an enormous relief to many individuals and to the employers who are in need of their services.
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Although less than half of the H1B numbers have been used, it is not wise to wait to file a case requesting one of the remaining exemptions. It took less than two weeks to reach the current filing levels. Thus, the numbers are likely to run out well before the start of the next fiscal year, October 1, 2005. Those who are in need of a start date prior to October 1, 2005, allowed under these exemptions, should take the necessary steps to have their employers file the H1B cases without further delay.