As of December 15th, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that approximately 64,200 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been filed. This is 1300 cases more than the count from December 11th. With only 800 remaining to reach the Cap of 65,000 and given the recent surge in H-1B applications, it is expected that the cap will be met before or by end of the month.
USCIS has approved sufficient H-1B petitions for aliens with advanced degrees to meet the exemption of 20,000 from the fiscal year 2010 cap. Any H-1B petitions filed on behalf of an alien with an advanced degree will now count toward the general H-1B cap of 65,000. USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.