The US Citizenship and Immigration Services has received about 22,000 petitions for the H-1B work visas in the first four days after it started accepting applications on April 2.

the fiscal 2013 beginning October 1 this year. The USCIS official, however, was quick to note that these are preliminary figures. These preliminary figures indicate that there has been quite an increase in the H-1B petitions this year as compared to the previous two years. US businesses use the H-1B programme to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialised fields, such as scientists, engineers, or computer programmers.