Employers who need to apply for H-1B visas for foreign workers in specialized skill areas should start getting ready. U.S. businesses typically use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations, such as science, engineering or computer programming.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 cap on Friday April 1, 2013.

Cases will be considered accepted on the date that USCIS receives a properly filed petition with the correct fee. It’s very important for employers to know that the USCIS will not rely on the date that the petition is postmarked.

The cap on H-1B visas is 65,000 with an additional 20,000 allowed for persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption.

The USCIS monitors the number of petitions received and will notify the public of the date that it receives the necessary number of petitions to meet the H-1B cap. If the number of applications received exceeds the cap, the USCIS randomly selects the number of petitions required to reach the numerical limit from the pool of petitions received on the final receipt date.

Employers should start thinking now about current and future employment needs that will require H1-B visas for legal employment.

Author: HR Watchdog, HRCalifornia’s Employment Law Blog, © California Chamber of Commerce