The H-1B visa program limits the number of cap-subject petitions to 85,000 each fiscal year. But why thousands of new LCA petitions for H-1B visa could still be filed after the cap was reached? Why over 300,000 LCA petitions were filed each fiscal year?

Petitions for new H-1B employment are exempt from the annual cap if the beneficiaries will work at:

• Institutions of higher education
• Non-profit entities related or affiliated to a higher education institution
• Non-profit research organizations or governmental research organizations

Petitions filed on behalf of current or former H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap also do not count toward the cap. Accordingly, USCIS will continue to process FY 2013 and FY 2014 petitions filed to:

• Extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the United States.
• Change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers.
• Allow current H-1B workers to change employers.
• Allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.
• Allow recapture of the time that H-1B workers spent outside the U.S.
• Change status back to H-1B from other status like H-4 or F-1.