when will the 2010 H1B cap be reached?

A while back we wrote about a friend that was getting a TN-1 Visa and I’m pleased to say that she has now got her H-1B Visa.  But, I have to admit, I was quite surprised how quickly she got it.  Over a lovely glass of wine she explained that the H-1B quota had been under-subscribed in 2010 so she approached her employer and got one.  What?!  I had to investigate.

You can apply for an H-1B Visa starting April 1st for the following year and there are 65,000 visa’s available for grant.  Historically, the cap is reached within days or weeks: the 2008 H-1B’s were all allocated by April 2nd, 2007; the 2009’s were allocated by April 7th, 2008.  However, as of July 10, 2009 only 44,900 H-1B’s for 2010 had been granted!

That means there are roughly 20,000 visa’s still available for grant!

It is unbelievable that visa’s are still available: for years the tech industry has been negatively effected by the 65K cap as it struggled to find talented industry folks world wide.  Because the allocations were reached so quickly odds are you would wait for a period of time (renewing your TN-1) before you got your H-1B.

Now, I know this has been controversial with counter arguments of immigrants taking jobs away from locals but I have to be ‘glass half full’ in my insights.  I believe employers will file for H-1B’s based on need and not just for immigration purposes.  As well, due to the downturn in the economy, I would suggest that the visa’s available for grant could also be an indicator that employers are choosing to hire locally first - or more importantly, they are choosing who to hire and when based on the available resources, where ever they may be.

So what happens if the 65K quota is not achieved?

Congress sets the number of visa’s available for grant each year.  And, although I’m sure there is some method to the number, it has always seemed that the number set was arbitrary (in 2000 the quota was as high as 195K and it wasn’t met).  So, who knows if they will adjust the number for 2011 or not.  But it does bring up the question of:

are caps/quota’s even necessary?  If employer’s do what is best for the company is it too naive to believe that the market itself will handle the allocations?

I guess that’s politics.

For now, if you are on a TN-1 and were too shy to ask your employer to help you get an H-1B now may be the time to revisit that option.  Good luck!