Feds say H-1B applications have reached annual limit

Nikita Patwari, a graphic designer at Shippo, a startup in San Francisco, on March 21, 2017. Patwari is applying for an H-1B visa after recently finishing her masters degree. Federal immigration officials said Friday that the government has reached its limit for the number of H-1B applications it will accept for the next fiscal year. less Nikita Patwari, a graphic designer at Shippo, a startup in San Francisco, on March 21, 2017. Patwari is applying for an H-1B visa after recently finishing her masters degree. Federal immigration officials said ... more Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Feds say H-1B applications have reached annual limit 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Federal immigration officials said Friday that the government has reached its limit for the number of H-1B applications it will accept for the next fiscal year.

The United States Immigration Citizenship and Services closes the application period when it feels it has enough applications to fulfill that cap. The number of applications received since the filing period began Monday has not been released yet.

The H-1B visa allows foreign workers with specialized skills to spend up to six years working at a sponsor company in the U.S. Every year companies must file for the visa on behalf of their employees. There are only 85,000 made available each year for for-profit companies.

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Last year, when the agency received a record-breaking number of 236,000 petitions, it also stopped accepting applications within the same week it opened. Given the uncertainty over the fate of the program under the Trump administration and the strong economy, immigration attorney expect a surge in applications this year.

As the filing period opened Monday, and the immigration agency braced for an avalanche of petitions, federal officials shifted around some ground rules.

In a move some experts say will challenge to consulting companies that consistently file large numbers of applications every year, the immigration agency said Monday it will take a “more targeted approach” in choosing employers whose workers receive visas.

Also on Monday, the Department of Justice sent out a stark warning to employers, saying it will continue “random and unannounced” visits around the country to H-1B-dependent companies, particularly those who have a relatively high proportion of H-1B workers.

“Too many American workers who are as qualified, willing and deserving to work in these fields have been ignored or unfairly disadvantaged,” the agency said in a statement. “Protecting American workers by combatting fraud in our employment-based immigration programs is a priority.

And under guidance issued last week, a computer programmer with a bachelor’s degree is not automatically eligible for an H-1B visa — a reversal of a 17-year-old federal policy.

While the immigration agency will continue to accept and process petitions that are exempt from the cap (such as doctors or university professors) the premium processing program, which allowed people to expedite their petition to 15 days, has been suspended for up to six months.

Silicon Valley has come to rely on the the H-1B visa to staff engineering positions. It has been a constant point of contention between the tech sector and its critics — including the Trump administration — who say companies exploit the program to squeeze out U.S. workers in favor of foreign workers who are willing to work for less money.

Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani