On January 26, 2011, USCIS announced today that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for FY 2011.  USCIS has notified the public that January  26, 2011, was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting a FY 2011 start date.  USCIS will apply a computer-generated random selection process (lottery) to all cap-subject petitions that were received on January 26, 2011.

USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap.  Such petitions include  petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap as well as petitions filed by certain cap-exempt employers.

The filing window for FY 2012 H-1B petitions (October 1, 2012 start dates) will open up on April 1, 2011.