To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: H-1B cap filing season is fast approaching. U.S. employers who sponsor foreign workers for temporary H-1B work visas should start preparing now for the upcoming, new H-1B cap electronic registration commencing this year on March 9, 2021. What Is the H-1B Cap? The H-1B visa is the standard professional U.S. work visa. There is a quota (or “cap”) each year on the number of new H-1B visas available. Specifically, there are 65,000 H-1B visas available annually with an additional 20,000 for U.S. master’s degree holders. Individuals who have not previously held H-1B status are generally subject to this annual cap. Over the last five-plus years, this cap has been oversubscribed. When this occurs, the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service (“USCIS”) opens the filing window for a specific period and accepts electronic registrations for new H-1Bs during that period. Presuming the number of applicants registered during that period exceeds the annual quota, then USCIS plans to run a random lottery to select the applicants who will be eligible for making the H-1B petition filing in the following 90 days.