<p>The H-1B visa is a temporary working visa for skilled workers who possess a minimum of a bachelor's degree in a specialty occupation such a engineering, accounting, computers, etc.  There is an annual quota of 65,000 visas per year.  An additional 20,000 visas are reserved for  those who have earned advanced degrees from U.S. colleges and  universities. The filing period starts on April 1, 2013.  If the visa application is approved, the visa start date is October 1, 2013.</p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 15px;">USCIS announced on Friday, April 5, 2013, that it had filled the H-1B  quota for this fiscal year after receiving more petitions from U.S.  employers than visas are available.  USCIS will not accept any new  H-1B petitions until April 1, 2014.  This is the first time  since 2008 that the agency has reached the H-1B cap within the first  week of the filing period.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 15px;">On Monday, April 8th, USCIS announced that   it had received approximately 124,000 petitions for both the advanced  and bachelor’s degree quotas.  When this happens the USCIS conducts a random  lottery system to select the 85,000 quota-subject petitions for  adjudication.  USCIS also announced that the lottery selections were  done on Sunday, April 7th, starting with the selection of 20,000  advanced degree applicants. All advanced degree applicants not selected in  the first round were entered in the  main lottery with all other applicants received during the filing period.   H-1B applicants will be notified by mail,  whether or not their petitions have been selected for adjudication.</p>
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