Timeline of H-1B

This timeline covers the history of the and associated work status. The timeline incorporates some content from and. Although much of the copied content was added by the author of the current Timelines wiki page, it also incorporates edits from others. The original content was released under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License (CC-BY-SA), so this page inherits this license.

Google Trends
The graph below shows Google Trends data from 2004 (the start of availability of data) to the present.



Interest peaks annually during the H-1B filing season, which is during the calendar months of March and April. Interest was higher in 2017 (corresponding to filing for Fiscal Year 2018) due to proposals for major rule changes after the election of Donald Trump.

Wikipedia pageviews
The graph below shows Wikipedia pageviews for the H-1B visa from December 2007 (the start of availability of data) to July 2017.



Interest peaks annually during the H-1B filing season, which is during the calendar months of March and April. Interest was higher in 2017 (corresponding to filing for Fiscal Year 2018) due to proposals for major rule changes after the election of Donald Trump.

Full timeline
When inline citations are missing, this is usually because the Wikipedia article for the subject of that row has adequate detail and its own citations.

Data Fiscal Year 2006 onward (after the H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004; no major legislative changes)
The annual caps for H-1B (65,000 regular cap-subject, 20,000 for people with U.S. Masters degrees) apply every Fiscal Year. A Fiscal Year begins on October 1 of the previous calendar year and ends on September 30 of the same calendar. For instance, Fiscal Year 2004 is from October 1, 2003 to September 30, 2004.

The H-1B petition is filed using, and any Form I-129 petition can be submitted at most six months in advance of the indicated start date. Therefore, cap-subject petitions in a given Fiscal Year start on the first weekday of April (usually April 1, sometimes April 2 or April 3) of the preceding calendar year. Early April is sometimes called "H-1B season", "H-1B cap season", "H-1B filing season", or "H-1B petition season", and is the subject of much informal discussion among petitioners, beneficiaries, and commentators.

Starting with Fiscal Year 2006, USCIS has implemented a lottery to determine what petitions to adjudicate if it hits the cap. According to this regulation, all petitions received before the date the USCIS hits its cap are processed, but petitions received on the day it hits the cap are run through a lottery that selects the number necessary to just hit the cap.

For Fiscal Year 2008, USCIS had to close petitions after just two days of receiving petitions. The heavy pressure on service centers and overnight courier services at the start of cap season led to USCIS changing its process somewhat starting Fiscal Year 2009. USCIS would now wait at least the first five working days of April to receive petitions, and, if enough petitions were received in the first five days, it would put all petitions received in the first five days (not just those on the last day) through its lottery to determine which petitions would be adjudicated. USCIS has achieved its cap after five days in every fiscal year starting Fiscal Year 2014 onward (see table below).

Due to the huge influx of petitions right around April 1, USCIS, for Fiscal Years 2014 through 2017, pre-announced delays in the beginning of countdown for Premium Processing Service; the 15-day countdown for petitions submitted between April 1 and this delayed start date would start on the delayed start date, rather than the date the petition was received. For Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019, Premium Processing Service was suspended entirely during the cap season.

There are also some other online sources tabulating H-1B cap season since the mid-2000s.

Data before Fiscal Year 2006
This period was characterized by significant flux in caps as well as the way petitions count toward the cap. Notes explaining the reason for changes in numbers are included. See the for more context on the specific changes. Data is from the United States Chamber of Commerce.