From the April 14, 2008 Edition of ISSS-BU News
Latest News on H-1B Cap Filings
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has published two updates on H-1B cap filings.
The first update, published on April 10, 2008, announced that it had received nearly 163,000 H-1B petitions during the filing period of April 1, 2008-April 7, 2008. Of that number, 31,200 petitions were for individuals eligible for the US master’s degree or higher category.
The second update, published on April 14, 2008, announced that the random selection process for both the 20,000 US Master’s degree or higher cap, and then for the 65,000 general cap. Petitions that have made it through the random selection process should receive a receipt notice no later than June 2, 2008. Unselected petitions will be returned to the filer with the fee. Duplicate filings will be returned without the fee. The total review process is expected to take eight to ten weeks. For those who have made it through random selection and have requested 15-day premium processing, that period begins today, April 14.
USCIS has also announced that it has placed some H-1B petitions into a “waiting list” category, in the event that some petitions that make it through random selection are found to be ineligible. Those selected for the waiting list will receive a letter informing them of their status.
To read the text of both announcements, visit the following links:
http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/USCIS%20Update_H1B_Preliminary%20Count1_10Apr08.pdf
http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/Update_USCIS_Runs_H1-B_Random_Selection%20Process.pdf