The application period for H1-B US visa petitions for  fiscal year 2018 begins next week, Monday, April 3rd, 2017.

H1-B is a popular non-immigrant visa program that grants high-skilled professionals especially in the tech industry visas to work in the US.  

A total of  85,000 H1-B visas are issued each year, with the cap normally being reached less than a week after the application period starts. The program allows US employers to employ foreign workers in specialty fields such as information technology, engineering and sciences that have shortages of qualified American workers.

Application qualifications and instructions are available at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website.