U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said Tuesday it reached its limit for 2008 skilled-worker visa petitions in a single day and will not accept any more, to the dismay of technology companies that rely on the visas to hire foreign employees.

The agency began accepting petitions Monday for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 and said it received about 150,000 applications by mid-afternoon.

The temporary H-1B visas are for foreign workers with high-tech skills or in specialty occupations.

READ: U.S. reaches 2008 cap for skilled-worker visa petitions in single day.

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