In a recent USCIS Stakeholders Meeting, AILA asked for clarification on how unused H-1B1s for Singaporean and Chileans are counted back. Under the Chile/Singapore Free Trade Agreement, 6,800 H-1B cases are reserved per cap for specialty occupation cases from Singapore and Chile. The USCIS responded to AILA by stating that unused H-1B1 numbers from a fiscal year will be reallocated for use in the subsequent fiscal year.
For example, the 6,100 unused Chile/Singapore H-1B1s from FY2009 were added back to the 58,200 regular cap numbers available for FY 2010 to get 64,300 regular cap visas available for FY 2010 (this excludes the 20,000 master’s cap exemption).
Thus far, only 129 of the 6,800 H-1B1 cases under the FY 2010 cap have been used. This means that potentially more than 6600 additional H-1B cap cases will be accepted under the FY 2011 cap, which opens in April 1, 2010. Please note, the USCIS did state that although the regular H-1B cap has been closed, they continue to accept reques for H-1B1 visas or change of status cases.