Each year, 65,000 H-1B visas are available for persons subject to the numerical limitations or “cap”. In addition, 20,000 potentially additional visas are available for those with U.S. master’s degrees or higher. Once these numbers have been met, no more cap-subject H-1B visas will be provided for the 2013 fiscal year.
The current count on 25,000 cap-subject petitions accepted for processing and 10,900 towards the master cap since April 1, 2012, the beginning of the H-1B cap-season. This means there are still quite a few visas left. The past two years have seen H-1B visas running out in early 2010 and then late 2011. As the economy heats up, the time until visas run out is likely to get shorter and shorter.
