The FY 2013 H-1B cap will likely be reached imminently.  USCIS’s latest report on June 1st is that the agency has received 55,600 petitions toward the regular H-1B cap and 18,700 toward the advanced degree cap. 

AILA estimates that as many as 1,800 cap-subject H-1B petitions are being filed with USCIS per day now, with the pace of filings increasing as each day passes. 

An employer may request a start date on or after October 1, 2012, on petitions filed under the FY 2013 H-1B cap (but not more than 6 months later than the filing date).  When the cap is reached for FY 2013, under current law, cap-subject H-1B petitions may not be filed again until the season opens up for the FY 2014 H-1B cap.  Such petitions are normally accepted beginning in April of the year when the new fiscal year begins.  In this case, April 2013.