Currently, the immigration law allows for a total of 85,000, new H-1B visas to be made available each year. The annual H-1B visa lottery open in April. Each year, 65,000 visas are issued for applicants in specialty level occupations with at least a bachelor’s degree, and an additional 20,000 are issued for applicants with master’s degrees. 
H-1B petitioners employed at an institution of higher education or certain nonprofit/government research entities are not subject to the cap and can obtain an unlimited number of H-1B visas. Once the H-1B petition is accepted for processing and approved, the foreign national can start working on October 1st.