The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today, April 5, 2013, that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B visa 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 with U.S. advanced degrees.  After today, USCIS will not accept H-1B petitions subject to the FY 2014 cap or the advanced degree exemption.

USCIS will conduct 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.  According to USCIS, due to the high number of petitions received, the agency is not yet able to announce the exact day of the random selection process. Also, USCIS is currently not providing the total number of petitions received, as it continues to accept filings today. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap.

USCIS will provide more detailed information about the H-1B cap next week.  Orner & O’Brien will continue to monitor the H-1B situation and will provide updates as soon as they become available.