April 17, 2017


USCIS announced this afternoon that it received 199,000 H-1B petitions during the FY2018 H-1B cap filing period (April 3-7).  The required computer-generated random selection process was completed on April 11, first selecting the 20,000 cases subject to the "Master's cap", then adding the unselected Master's cap cases into the general lottery for the remaining 65,000 H-1Bs.  USCIS has already begun issuing receipt notices for the selected petitions.  It typically takes several weeks for USCIS to complete the data entry and receipting process for all selected petitions.  Once all selected petitions have been receipted, USCIS will reject or return all unselected petitions with their filing fees (unless the petition is found to be a duplicate filing). 

We will alert clients as soon as we receive notification that a case has been selected under the lottery, and also once USCIS announces that all selected petitions have been receipted. 
Please note that this News Flash is provided for informational purposes only.  It does not constitute legal advice and is not a substitute for consulting with an attorney.

Sincerely,
 
The Attorneys at RSST Law Group