WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the United States reached its annual visa cap on petitions for high-skilled workers, just five days after the H-1B visa petition window opened on April 2, 2018. FWD.us President Todd Schulte issued the following statement:

"Once again, the H-1B visa petition window this year has closed in less than a week – and the fact that we could reuse the same statement for nearly the last decade is a serious problem for America’s global competitiveness, and, worse, it is entirely preventable. We’re out of H-1B visas for the entire year within one week, showing that yet again demand continues to outpace supply dramatically. That’s it for the entire year for our nation’s ability to bring in the best and brightest individuals through the H-1B program to come create American jobs. In addition to forcing us to miss out on the creation of American jobs, these arbitrary limits will stifle medical innovation and wage growth, and will hurt our economy.

“Americans deserve a high-skilled immigration system that makes it easier for us to remain a magnet for global talent and innovation. Today is a blunt reminder that our broken and outdated system is compromising our global competitiveness and hindering our ability to create American jobs – Congress must do better.”