April 1, 2010 is the first day the USCIS will accept cap-subject H-1B petitions for FY-2011 where workers can begin employment on October 1, 2010 the first day of the USCIS fiscal year.  A couple of things worth keeping in mind:  (1)  LCAs currently take about a week to be certified; and (2) an official prevailing wage determination from the Department of Labor also takes several weeks.

The time to start planning for FY-2010 H-1Bs is therefore now.  As the US economy improves, demand for H-1B numbers is expected to increase which could lead to cap-subject petitions being unavailable.  There are 65,000 general cap H-1Bs that can be filed in a fiscal year and 20,000 reserved for beneficiaries possessing at least a Master degree from a US college or university.

Please visit our firm’s websites at [1] www.immigrantconnect.com and [2] www.americaninvestorvisa.com.