My wife and me are currently in F1 Visa with our OPT started a month ago. I am planning to talk with my employer for a sponsorship of H1 Visa. If they agree, what is the last the last date to apply for H1 B Visa? Is it Oct 2009? Is there a possibility of losing the first 20,000 slot for students if we file in the last dates?

There is an allocation of 65,000 H visas per fiscal year. About 20,000 left for this coming year FY2010 which starts October 1, 2009. There are no slots saved for students.

Your fine, file.