As many of you know, from this year, which is H1B Visa 2021 season, USCIS started the new H1B Visa Registration process and many are still filing H1B petitions for FY 2021 until June 30th, 2020. Also, USCIS announced earlier the delays in getting receipts notices for FY 2021 until early May. Now, some of our blog readers have applied in April and few have got approval notices as well. Couple of such readers, anonymous and Kiiki, have been kind enough to share their receipt notices and approval notice for everyone’s benefit and positive hope. Thanks a lot, to anonymous users and Kiiki for taking time to share it with the community, we appreciate it. You can share it with community as well by writing to us at redbus2us@gmail.com
Background of H1B Applicant ( Anonymous) – H1B Timeline
Applied for H1B visa and went through H1B Lottery for the last 6 years and this year got lucky in 6th time.
- Applied in early April 2021 as H1B Change of Status (COS) Petition
- H1B Receipt notice received with April 24, 2020 date.
- H1B Approval date – May 14th, 2020.
- Received H1B Approval duration for close to 3 years.
Sample H1B 2021 Receipt Notice – I797C – Notice of Action (First User)
Sample H1B 2021 Approval Notice – I-797A with I-94 (COS)
H1B approved with Change of Status approval. Received I-94 as well. See below.
Sample H1B 2021 Approval Notice – I797A – Regular Quota, Consular Process
This is shared by our second user, anonymous for privacy reasons.
Background : The petition number starts with EAC but the service center address is Nebraska service center. Initially my petition was with VSC and later on it was transferred to another office.
Background of H1B Applicant (Kiiki) – H1B Timeline
Applied for H1B visa under Masters cap with below details
- STEM OPT Expiring on My 31st, 2020.
- Submitted H1B Petition with USCIS late April, 2020.
- Received H1B Receipt in last week of April with some errors ( this is reported by many users too). The error is on the petitioner’s name, where the authorized signatory was listed as the petitioner.
- Waiting for the approval notice.
Sample H1B 2021 Receipt Notice – I797C – Notice of Action ( Third User)
Did any of you receive H1B Receipt Notice? How about H1B Approval Notices ? Share your experiences and timelines in comments.
Hi Kumar,
I am currently in H1b Petition Filling Process. I am on my undergrad F1-OPT now. Since F1 visa doesn’t allow to start a next-level school. I wonder if I can start graduate school this fall if I receive my Approval Notice around July? Or do I have to wait after 10/01?
Thanks a lot!
Is it possible to attend the first time H-1B interview in India without an I-797 approval notice (law firm lost it)? I have the receipt notice, and the H1B was approved in September 2020.
N,
No, you at least need a copy of it. If not, ask your attorney to get a duplicate from USCIS.
Hi Kumar,
Thanks for the prompt response. I will ask attorney for the duplicate.
I have a soft copy of I 797A with me. But I lost my original copy. Could I go for visa stamping?
Hi Kumar,
I have been hearing news about the H1B visa program going to be suspended. If news is true, what is going to happen to those who got selected in the lottery for the current financial year? whether this selection will be considered in case if later point situation improves or it will be a fresh procedure of lottery..
Sanju,
At this point, we do not know. These are still not official. We need to wait for the President order. Let’s wait and not speculate.
Hi Kumar,
I am on OPT and my H1B was picked in lottery this year and approved this month. Can i change my job now or do i have to wait until Oct 1?
Lucy,
You are free to change now on OPT. But, on October 1st, you will be on H1B and you need to work for that company that sponsored your H1B. If you are working for company that sponsored your h1B, then I suggest you do not quit now and wait until October 1st, work for them for few weeks and then transfer. This way is to avoid complications with transfer and your cap exempt status.
My petition was filed as consular processing on May 18th. Still haven’t received the receipt notice, is this normal ? What are the next steps I need to do
Samarth,
It is normal. It can take anywhere from few weeks to months. if you want faster results, upgrade to premium.
Kumar,
I have a question regarding the stamping. My approval notice mentions Hyderabad as the consulate to get my stamping. Does it have to be Hyderabad or can I get it done in New Delhi too? Reason I am asking is Hyderabad doesn’t have dates available anytime soon.
Thank you.
Aspirant,
No, you can go anywhere you like. It does not matter, you can even go to other country.
Thank you Kumar.
Hi Kumar, I am currently based on Mexico and my h1b case was approved. By any chance can I choose Mexico consulate for stamping ?
My petition was filed through consular process on April 24th, but I did not receive any receipt so far. Is there anyway I can get the receipt number?
Harish,
Talk to your attorney.
Status: Case has been transferred to another USCIS office. how to check which service center is processing my I129?
Sid,
You would have got a physical notice, where it is going to be moved. Check that notice.
I have an update on my case. My case was approved yesterday. Haven’t received the physical copy yet. Below are the details of my case. Hope details are helpful and wish everyone good luck with your applications.
Service Center – California
Quota – Masters Degree
USCIS received – May 5th
Notice Date – May 6th
Case status – Approved on June 10th
Type – Consular Processing
Aspirant,
Thanks for sharing !
Hi Kumar, I just checked my case and received this “On June 10, 2020, we sent a request for initial evidence for your Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, Receipt Number ……… The request for evidence explains what we need from you. We will not take action on your case until we receive the evidence or the deadline to submit it expires. Please follow the instructions in the request for evidence.”
Do you know if anyone else received this? Now I am scared and worried.
My H1B approved today. I have also applied for STEM OPT extension. Not received receipt notice yet for STEM OPT Petition.
Should I withdraw my STEM OPT extension petition?
sanjay,
No need to. If filed as COS, Your status will go to H1B and your STEM OPT will not be applicable anymore.
Packet sent: April 15th
Sevis Changed: April 23rd
Notice Received: May 1-May 4(Petitioner’s name wrong)
Got new i20: May 22 2020
As of now case status still shows name was updated: May 4.
Do you know what would be the average time to get approval?
SJ,
This is a difficult one to generalize. Some got approval in 2 weeks, some end up waiting for months. It all varies, there is no logic.
As there is no premium, we are out of options other than just waiting…
The general timeline is few weeks to few months…I know that’s way to broad answer, but ironically the truth 🙂
Thanks Kumar. I will update once I get an approval.
sj,
Now that premium processing is open, you may speak to your employer and consider that, if there are more delays and you do not hear anything by early September.
Yes good idea. I am going to sit patiently till July and if not then will ask my employer to file premium.
SJ, I am in the exact same boat as you; Name updated since May 4. Fingers crossed.
good luck Kiiki.. we get it soon I hope so
Fingers crossed!!!
My company submitted LCA around mid-April. But my lawyer said he didn’t still get approval for LCA. So, the lawyer cannot submit any of my and company’s documents. I heard that LCA is usually approved within 2 weeks. Is it delayed for this year? Do you know how long does it take for approval this year?
Thank you
Jae,
No delays as far as I heard. It takes 7 days. Ask them to file again.
I am confused. USCIS asked for a bailout to the government because immigrant applications dropped by 60% due to the current crisis. If they have 40% of the work they had before, shouldn’t they be faster? They stopped Premiuim Processing because they said they had too many applications, but then ask a bailout because they don’t have enough applications. So, which one is it?
Hi Kumar and Mimi,
Does this mean the H1B Filing petitions submitted to USCIS for 2021 also got dropped so far some %?. Will this increase the chance for a Second run by June 30th?.
Thanks
This is all speculation, Only a handful of people selected will not file. I have total of 40 friends who got approved and 39 of them are applying only 1 is not because of lay off so out of 85000 people selected may be around 5000 people will not apply and that spot might be filled by the buffer they already selected. H1b lottery happened in March and News about corona in States was coming from January so USCIS might have taken that into consideration and selected more buffer than what they normally do every year.
I don’t understand, if you were unlucky to not get selected in 85K out of 275 k. What makes you think that your chances are godly when they select for example 5K to complete the buffer out of (275K-85K =190 K) if there is a second lottery.
People need to understand that because of corona some people are getting laid off but most of them are on furlough which is a temporary shutdown without pay but when company reopens they will be back to work.
Lay off happens when one country is not doing well, the economy is bad globally and when everything reopens there will be flood of jobs.
Out of 20 million that is unemployed in US, not all of them lost their job. They filed unemployment temporarily and this number will drop when furlough is over.
Look for a plan B man, chances are slim to none.
Thanks very much for your clarification. I understand this is a temporary shut down and companies will be back ; however, the last date for filing the petitions is June 30th and just seeing blogs and few sites stating not all companies will be back with full strength before June 30th. This means , those who go selected in lottery and went in Furlough may not end up in filing petition by employer before June 30th. Hence wanted to check the probability. Agreed , time to look for Plan B.
Furlough still means you are employed with the company so they will file the petition, at least that’s whats happening in my company for those who got selected. I am on furlough but my petition is already filed. Also you know that this year company who applied for their employees for H1-B has to file H1-B petition or else they will be penalized. There is a very little probability of some companies not filing. There is legal consequences for registering and getting selected and not filing. I work for a medium scale company, only 60 employees have been called back so far but they still see me coming back in near future hence they are applied for petition.
I have been in your position for 5 years and got selected this year on my 6th attempt. I don’t want you to keep going on false hope. Have done that for 5 years and it drains you mentally and physically. Plan for Canadian PR man, it much easy and i ended up getting mine in 8 months.
Mimi,
It is a good question…I guess, the premium processing stop is the one that is causing them issues I think as that is a big revenue for them.
I agree but then it’s surprising they won’t resume it (Premiuim Processing) seeing the reason why they presumably halted it (too many applications) is no longer a problem (now, it’s too few applications. A drop by half in petitions received). The other thing that baffles me is that they are keeping embassies overseas (for visa interviews and stamping) closed, even in countries that have reopened everything. I’m in Italy and we have made such good process on the virus that everything has reopened, including shops and barbers. We are so far ahead we are opening borders on June 3rd (next Tuesday) to tourists. Yet, the American embassy is still closed. I understand there are bans to enter the US, but I don’t see why not at least conduct the interviews in the meanwhile instead of creating a giant backlog when clearly the virus isn’t the reason they are still closed (at least here, everything else is open). I think they are just deliberately slowing things down, I see no other logical reason.
Mimi,
Very logical questions…I wish USCIS functions that way…
Glad to hear things in Italy are getting better…very positive !
Agree with you, sometimes, they just delay the whole process without any reason….Not much we can do…
Hello,
Congrats to all who got their approval notices. Is it possible to go to Canada to get US H1B visa. I am under the advanced degree cap. Let me know.
Thanks,
Good Luck
Good Luck,
Yes, if you have studied in US, it is likely. You should always check with the US Consulate in Canada.
Are they adjudicating faster these days?
Suresh,
It seems at least for few …Not a general pattern…
Is there a pattern how cases are being approved? The USCIS website says petitions will be processed in the order they are received? I don’t understand how some people are getting approvals already !!
OMG,
It is hard to say, every case is subject to their own scrutiny…some get adjudicated faster, some take time as there can be RFEs.
It has always been that way, some get approvals fasters, there is no clear logic or pattern.
Thanks.
Keeping RFEs aside, applications supposed to be processed in order. It’s very confusing and not transparent.
OMG,
Well, the process is not very transparent. The way it works is that, some cases are assigned to officers and they work on it. So, it is like a batch distribution I would say as there are physical packages that are involved.
Happy for those who’ve got their long-deserved approvals.
I have got the RFE a day after a petitioner’s name correction. VSC.
My employer’s lawyer haven’t seen the RFE yet (case status was updated yesterday) but I think it’s about specialty occupation, because I have a “loser’s combo” of “Marketing Manager” title and and an MBA degree…
Fedotov,
Don’t worry stay positive. As long as the role is genuine and it is classified as speciality occupation, your attorney should help you get it cleared.
H1b 2021? but the receipt number is “WAC2017”. lol
Anon,
You need to only look at the first two letters. It is 20, meaning it was filed for FY 2021 cap. Read What is H1B Receipt Number ? Meaning of Digits