USCIS UPDATES H-1B CAP COUNT FOR 4/20/2012 AT 25,000

USCIS just issued another H-1B cap update for FY 2013. As of April 20, 2012, they have received approximately 25,000 H-1B cases subject to the regular cap plus approximately 10,900 subject to the advanced degree cap. As of that date, the advanced degree quota is over 50% used.

USCIS ISSUES H-1B VISA UPDATE - AS OF 4/13/2012

USCIS just updated its count of FY2013 cap-subject H-1B petitions.

As of April 13, 2012, USCIS has received approximately 20,600 H-1B cap-subject petitions under the regular H-1B cap (out of a total of 65,000) and an additional 9,700 H-1B petitions for people with advanced degrees.

The H-1B master's degree quota is almost half gone (it will probably be more than 50% gone by the same time next week). The regular quota is still available, but not for long. Probably will be gone by the summer based on my predictions.

USCIS UPDATES H-1B FAQS FOR CAP-GAP F-1 STUDENT CASES

USCIS updates H-1B cap gap FAQs for students who are in the U.S. in valid F-1 student status and working under OPT or Optional Practical Training. It is not a new guidance but rather an expansion on their policy that basically these students can remain in the U.S. and continue to work (their OPTs are automatically extended) as long as the H-1B visa remains pending and a timely change of status petition is filed from F-1 to H-1B with a start date of October 1, 2012.
The student should go to their Designated School Official (DSO) with evidence of a timely filed H-1B petition (indicating a request for change of status rather than for consular processing), such as a copy of the petition and receipt notice (Form I-797, Notice of Action). The student’s DSO will issue a new cap-gap I-20 indicating the continued extension of F-1 status.
If USCIS denies, rejects, or revokes an H-1B petition filed on behalf of an F-1 student covered by the automatic cap-gap extension of status, the student will have the standard 60-day grace period (from the date of the notification of the denial, rejection, or revocation of the petition) before he or she is required to depart the United States, except if the revocation was due to fraud, material misrepresentation or due to the student's own violation of status.
The updated FAQs are at: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=1d175ffaae4b7210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

USCIS UPDATES 2013 H-1B COUNT ON 4/9/2012: AT 17,400

USCIS just announced on Friday that it has received approximately 17,400 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap, and approximately 8,200 petitions toward the 20,000 cap exemption for individuals with advanced degrees, for a total of more than 25,600 in the first week of filing, more than a quarter than the available numbers for the entire year.
USCIS will continue to accept petitions until the quota is exhausted.
With these numbers going strong this year, I do not expect the numbers to last until the summer.