Petitions for H1-B visas, popular among Indian IT professionals, will be accepted from April 2, a federal agency announced on Wednesday. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) also announced the suspension of premium processing of all H-1B petitions, which are subject to the annual caps. The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China The H-1B petition filing is for the fiscal year 2019 beginning October 1, 2018. The suspension of premium processing of all H-1B petitions which are subject to the annual caps is expected to last until September 10, 2018. During this time, the USCIS said it will continue to accept premium processing requests for H-1B petitions that are not subject to the fiscal 2019 cap.