H-1B Cap update – USCIS reports 124,000 H-1B petitions received

News Release from Jewell & Associates, PC

Today USCIS announced that it received approximately 124,000 H-1B petitions between April 1 and April 5. It was the first time the statutory H-1B cap of 85,000 (including 20,000 available under the advanced degree exemption) was reached within the first week of the filing period since 2008.

On April 7 USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process (commonly known as a “lottery”) to select a sufficient number of petitions needed to meet the cap. USCIS says that it conducted the selection process for advanced degree exemption petitions first; all advanced degree petitions not selected were then made part of the random selection process for the 65,000 limit. Any petitions not randomly selected will be rejected and returned with the filing fees.

© Jewell & Associates, PC 2013

H-1B Cap reached, lottery triggered

News Release from Jewell & Associates, PC

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year (FY) 2014. USCIS has also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the U.S. advanced degree exemption. USCIS will not accept H-1B petitions subject to the FY 2014 cap or the advanced degree exemption after today.

USCIS will use a computer-generated random selection process (commonly known as the “lottery”) for all FY 2014 cap-subject petitions received through April 5, 2013. The agency will conduct the selection process for advanced degree exemption petitions first. All advanced degree petitions not selected will be part of the random selection process for the 65,000 limit. Due to the high number of petitions received, USCIS is not yet able to announce the exact day of the random selection process. Also, USCIS will not currently provide the total number of petitions received, as it continues to accept filings through April 5th.

USCIS will provide more detailed information about the H-1B cap next week.

© Jewell & Associates, PC 2013

Worldwide Deployment of Form DS-160 for Nonimmigrant Visa Applications

News Release from Jewell & Associates, PC - February 23, 2010

As part of the Stare Department’s ongoing modernization of the visa application process, it is deploying the DS-160 fully web-based nonimmigrant visa (NIV) application form worldwide.  The DS-160 has been used at twenty-four U.S. consular posts so far, and will be expanded to complete global usage for all NIVs except K visas.  The expansion will take place in two phases, with many consular posts requiring the DS-160 as of March 1, 2010, and the remaining consular posts requiring the DS-160 no later than April 30, 2010.

The DS-160 form combines all information previously collected on the DS-156, 157, and 158 for appropriate applicants, and the DS-3052.  Applicants for "E" class treaty trader NIVs will complete the DS-160 and have to fill out a hard copy DS-156E until the DS-160E electronic form is fielded in the near future. Until further notice, K visa applicants should continue to use the DS-156 and DS-156K instead of the DS-160.

© Jewell & Associates, PC 2010

H-1B Cap for FY2011 (10/1/2010 through 9/30/2011)

News Release from Jewell & Associates, PC - January 29, 2010

Congress has established an annual H-1B cap of 65,000. Of that number, 6,800 are set aside for the H-1B1 program under terms of the U.S.-Chile and U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreements. The total H-1B cap number available in a given fiscal year is therefore 58,200 (65,000 minus 6,800). The law provides that any of the unused Chile/Singapore numbers from a fiscal year be reallocated for use in the subsequent fiscal year. Therefore, the unused Chile/Singapore H-1B1s from the prior fiscal year are added to the 58,200 regular cap numbers available for each new fiscal year.  (This excludes the 20,000 cap exemption for holders of U.S. graduate degrees, which effectively adds another 20,000 to the H-1Bs available each year.)

Thus, the FY 2011 cap (i.e., new H-1Bs that will take effect between 10/1/2010 and 9/30/2011), to be allocated beginning in April 2010, will be based on the same formula: Subtract 6,800 for the FY 2011 H-1B1 reservation from 65,000, then add back in the unused H-1B1 numbers from FY 2010, based either on projected H-1B1 usage to the end of FY 2010, or on actual determined usage during that year, depending on when the cap is hit. In FY 2010 to date (January 2010), 129 of the 6,800 numbers have been used.

© Jewell & Associates, PC 2010

H-1B Cap Is Reached for FY2010

News Release from Jewell & Associates, PC - December 22, 2009 On Tuesday, December 22, 2009, USCIS announced that the H-1B cap was reached.  All cap-subject H-1B petitions received at USCIS before Monday, December 21^st “made the cap.”  Cap-subject H-1B petitions received on Monday, December 21^st will be subject to a computer-generated random selection process to determine which of them “made the cap” and which will be returned to the petitioners un-filed.  All cap-subject H-1B petitions received after Monday, December 21^st will be returned to the petitioners un-filed.

© Jewell & Associates, PC 2009

H-1B Cap Update for FY2010

News Release from Jewell & Associates, PC - December 17, 2009

As of Tuesday, December 15, 2009, approximately 84,200 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been received and counted towards the H-1B cap.  This means that only 100 H-1Bs were still available as of yesterday, December 16th.  Accordingly, we expect an announcement from USCIS in the next few days that the cap has been reached.

© Jewell & Associates, PC 2009

H-1B Cap Update for FY2010

News Release from Jewell & Associates, PC - December 4, 2009

As of Friday, December 4, 2009, approximately 81,100 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been received and counted towards the H-1B cap.  This means that 3,200 H-1Bs are still available.  If the recent rate of use continues to accelerate, cap-subject H-1B petitions are likely to be accepted only for about one more week.

© Jewell & Associates, PC 2009

H-1B Cap Update for FY2010

News Release from Jewell & Associates, PC - November 30, 2009

As of Friday, November 27, 2009, approximately 78,900 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been received and counted towards the H-1B cap.  When this number is added to the statutory “H-1B1” set-asides of 1,400 from Chile and 5,400 from Singapore, the total H-1B cap of 85,000 is now exceeded.  Fortunately, however, it appears that USCIS is adding back in the 6,100 Chile-Singapore H-1B1s that are expected to be unused, and releasing them for general H-1B use.  This means that 5,400 H-1Bs are still available.  If the recent rate of use of about 1,300 per week remains steady, cap-subject H-1B petitions could be accepted for up to four more weeks.

© Jewell & Associates, PC 2009

H-1B Cap update for FY2010

News Release from Jewell & Associates, PC - September 24, 2009

In 2008, the annual allotment of cap-subject H-1Bs was so oversubscribed within the first few days of the filing season opening on April 1, 2008 that USCIS closed the filing period on April 7^th and instituted a lottery to select the filings that would proceed to adjudication.  In dramatic contrast, the H-1B demand in 2009 for cap-subject FY 2010 H-1Bs has been exceedingly low. As of September 18, 2009, approximately 46,000 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been received and counted towards the H-1B cap, and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. This means approximately 12,000 H-1Bs remain available.

© Jewell & Associates, PC 2009

USCIS runs random selection process for H-1B petitions

News Release from Jewell & Associates - April 14, 2008

We reproduce, below, USCIS’s April 14, 2008 update on FY 2009 H-1B cap filings.

USCIS Update

April 14, 2008

USCIS RUNS RANDOM SELECTION PROCESS FOR H-1B PETITIONS

WASHINGTON - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today conducted the computer-generated random selection processes on H-1B petitions, to select which H-1B petitions for fiscal year 2009 (FY 2009) would continue to full adjudication. If approved these H-1B petitions will be eligible to receive an H-1B visa number.

USCIS conducted two random selections, first on petitions qualifying for the 20,000 "master's or higher degree" (advanced degree) exemption, and second on the remaining advance degree petitions together with the general H-1B pool of petitions, for the 65,000 cap.

The approximately 163,000 petitions received in the first five days of the eligible filing period for FY 2009 (April 1 through April 7, 2008) were labeled with unique numerical identifiers. USCIS has notified the appropriate service centers which numerical identifiers have been randomly selected, so each center may continue with final processing of the petitions associated with those numerical identifiers.

Petitioners whose properly filed petitions have been selected for full adjudication should receive a receipt notice dated no later than June 2, 2008. USCIS will return unselected petitions with the fee(s) to petitioners or their authorized representatives. As previously announced, duplicate filings will be returned without the fee. The total adjudication process is expected to take approximately eight to ten weeks.

For cases selected through the random selection process and initially filed for premium processing, the 15-day premium processing period begins today (April 14), the day of the random selection process.

USCIS has "wait-listed" some H-1B petitions, meaning they may possibly replace petitions chosen to receive an FY-2009 cap number, but that subsequently are denied, withdrawn, or otherwise found ineligible. USCIS will retain these petitions until a decision is made whether they will replace a previously selected petition. USCIS will send a letter to the wait list petitioners to inform them of their status.

USCIS expects that for each of these wait-listed petitions, it will either issue a receipt notice or return the petition with fees within six to eight weeks.

- USCIS -

© Jewell & Associates 2008