http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=138b6138f898d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=91919c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD H-1B Advanced Degree Exemption The H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004, which took effect on May 5, 2005, changed the H-1B filing procedures for FY 2005 and for future fiscal years. The H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004 also makes available 20,000 new H-1B visas for foreign workers with a Master’s or higher level degree from a U.S. academic institution. Cap Beneficiaries Approved Beneficiaries Pending Petitions Receipted Beneficiaries Pending Petitions yet to be Receipted Total Date of Last Count H-1B (FY 08) 58,200 1 ------ ------ ------ Cap Reached 4/2/2007 H-1B Advanced Degree Exemption (FY 08) 20,000 5,097 4,855 7,035 16,987 4/16/2007 1 6,800 visas are set aside during the fiscal year for the H-1B1 program under the terms of the legislation implementing the U.S.-Chile and U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreements. Unused numbers in this pool can be made available for H-1B use with start dates beginning on October 1, 2007, the start of FY 2008. USCIS has added 5,800, the projected number of unused H-1B1 Chile/Singapore visas to the FY 2008 H-1B cap.