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H1B Visa 2014 Cap Count Updates

Page Updated :  December 14, 2014.

H1B 2014 season was over on April 5, 2013 with lottery. Currently, we are in H1B 2016 season. See below for details:

Check out :H1B Visa 2016 – Start Date, Sponsors, Fees, FAQs

H1B 2014 Cap reached on April 5th, 2013. Read : 124,000 H1B Visas Filed. Lottery Process
Did you miss FY 2014 ? Check out : H1B Visa 2015 – FAQs

Just like previous years, we will track all the news updates and cap count numbers related to H1B visa 2014 on this page. You can check out our previous H1B visa 2013 cap count updates page to get an idea.

Latest News updates, Information for H1B visa 2014 :

All the H1B news releases by USCIS and informative articles related to applying for H1B visa 2014 will be posted below :

H1B Visa FY 2014 Cap Count updates Tracking Table:

The below table will be updated as soon as USICS updates cap counts.

USCIS Update onRegular H1B Cap (65,000)Advanced Degree Cap (20,000)Analysis and Cap Count Update Article.
April 5th, 2013 65,000 20,000USCIS news Update – Lottery
Remaining H1B Cap ZeroZero  Total Remaining = ZERO

 

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3,409 Comments

  1. My employer has sent my application for filing with USCIS on 27 Mar2013.
    Are there any chances for my petition being filed…

    Thanks
    Hitesh

    Reply
    • You can check with your employer for postal tracking details. Since USCIS is accepting applications till April 5th to factor in such postal/fedex screw ups, your petition should reach them fine.

      Reply
  2. Friends any body know what will be the premium to regular h1b petition request ratio.
    Last year out of 65000 how many premium and regular h1b petition filed.

    Please let me know.

    Reply
    • Hi All,

      I have been a silent reader over the last few days in most of these forums. I would like to share my thoughts on predictions on H1 B.

      1. Guys please dont Panic.
      2. Please wait till Monday to get an official update from USCIS.
      3. Please dont spread any rumors.
      4. The I2 bill is also expected to be passed sometime next week. We might have a chance that USCIS might increase the quota by another 20K.
      5. I do have friends in most of the top Indian IT companies. Most of them from the Immigration team feels that the cap would be available till the end of second week of April.

      Reasons:

      A. The H1B cost has increased over the last few years.
      B. Even though big IT giants like TCS , CTS etc…might file more number of petitions – they again have a bucket system – they bucket based on the criticality of resources. they file the petitions one after the other bucket.
      C. In 2007 & 2008 – the immigration laws were not so very strict. The consultancies used to take money and file.That is the main reason why USCIS received high number of petitions during the 1st week of April. This year it cant be done very easily just like that.
      D. Those who got through H1B Last year are still in India. I have more than 10 of friends in this Bucket.
      E. The Laws are also very strict this year like LCA, Client Letter etc…

      Friends – I might be wrong as well. Things might change at any time. Just like our 20-20 cricket match. Lets all stay tuned & keep our fingers crossed till 8th April. We might get some unofficial news as well by Saturday. But lets pray and wait till Monday. That is all we can do as of now.

      Reply
      • Here you have a good point of consultancy companies. They used to take money and file H1 because of which number of applications was tremendously high. Now days, it has become very strict for consultancy companies and nobody is willing to file H1. Moreover many consultancies are loosing employee when they go to India for stamping. People are getting stuck for months. Let us wait and watch for an update from USCIS. They should provide an update on Monday / Tuesday (April 9th).

        Reply
  3. Day 3. Still no news from USCIS. Does this mean that the cap hasn’t reached 65,000 yet? Just 2 more days to go, hope it doesn’t reach

    Reply
  4. this lottery systems in unfair to Advanced degree candidates, most of them work for product based companies within USA for US companies which are not delivery centers but companies that were built by american entrepreneurs. For example i know couple of start up’s in they valley which employ OPT students who contribute to a major percent of source code and basically own and are responsible for the companies output. But these start ups are now left hanging in case of lottery. Why does not USCIS/Govt understand that these students in technical areas are helping start up’s fill up non technical positions with americans. One of the startup had to employ two american marketing interns to sell a product completely built by this guy from germany. Instead they have to go home in case of lottery and these guys on opt are on stem and its their last chance for a shot at h-1b.

    Reply
    • I completely second on your thoughts…. I am also on the same boat and am restless the day I heard about the lottery system.

      Students who invested money, and time to get a degree from this country and end up doing lottery for a job, though many of them are capable of getting into any company. My friend did his MS Comp Sc from Stanford and he got a job in Facebook. Its so unfair for him to enter into lottery to continue working. And there are plenty of such cases.

      On the contrary, consultants, outsourcing companies and Indian IT companies (who pay tax to Indian govt.) skew the whole graph to cause these hiccups. I don’t know who allow them to apply for x thousands of applications. e.g. according to the list shared below, Infosys alone applied or over 6k applications, i.e. 10% of the total cap… What the hell ?

      USCIS should filter the number of applicants according to the tax payers and total revenue. Then, TCS and Infy will came to know where they stand. Not even 10 petitions would be filed by them then.

      Reply
      • Who said you Mr. shekhar agrawal that TCS, Infy will pay tax to indian Govt. These companies owns subsidiary in other countries where they pay tax in respective countries..
        I dont agree to your stupid comments.

        Reply
          • I totally agree with Agarwal. Whatever he says is absolutely correct. I see most of the users on this forum are from India. But they don’t know what hardships a student has to face when he studies in US. People imagine that MS student must be earning $100k but it is not the situation. He has to go through tremendous stress and hard work to reach to that point.

          • so what mr. Rahul. So you are not from india? If you are american why you are in this forum. Jus get lost man..

          • Did we tell u to go to the us for doing your MS. Don’t blabber on a public.forum like this. Just because you have done your MS from some stupid US university, you think you are better off than a TCS/infy employee. Get a life kid.
            i have got a offer from a big Investment Bank in NYC. So don’t think that I am from Infy/TCS. If it is a lottery so be it. Now shut up and just face the results. I still hope you get your H1b this year itself

        • Absolutely agreed to H1B applicant. Even as per the salary breakup of any H1B applicant for US all these IT companies pay tax to US govt…A part of the salary received by employees of Indian IT companies working in US is dissolved in tax.

          So I don’t agree to what Mr Agrawal is saying

          Reply
        • Guys who are done M.S in US tell me one thing.. why you should get first priority?
          If you say reason “You are invested”. This is stupid.. Neither US govt nor India govt. have asked you to invest. Its your personal. Finally one thing, do not blame india and indian IT companies, because of indian IT companies you qualified for MS in US.

          Reply
      • Oh boy, how stupid is your thinking? Even I’ve done my masters in US, that doesn’t mean I have to stand a better chance to get a H1B.. I am same as others back in my own country who haven’t done their master in US, rather chose to do so in other institutes in India itself.

        Well you’ve got money and thats why you did your masters in US.. or you wanted to make money in dollars and you wanted to work in US, so you chose the shortcut of studying in US hoping you will stand a better chance. If you had thoughts of working after your masters, you should have made that clear in your F1 interview itself, you could’ve never got your F1 visa.

        As far as this stands, everyone is fair in filing their own H1s.. Just so because your friend got a job in facebook and this time it may go to lottery, do not just blame Indian companies.

        As it appears that you may not know, for whatever work thats being done in US, tax has to be paid in US, not India.. And as you say, if the USCIS should filter number of applicants according to total revenue, the facebook will not even make it to top 100,000 🙂

        Reply
        • Nice reply Harsha 🙂 if people didnt get H1B they will fly back to india, I am pretty sure they will join IT companies to get H1B filed again…so Mr Sekhar Agrawal stop thinking like an idiot 🙂

          Reply
          • @all, who is going personal in this forum.

            I can also be personal to everyone in this forum but I am not a jerk like you.

            This forum is to put up you personal opinion and I did that. If you guys being a jerk commenting on others comments personally, no one can do anything. But it’s not your fault, it’s a common feeling being on the other side of the lake.

            And please stop throwing personal attacks, otherwise I can also be a spammer.

          • Sorry Shekhar if you are offended by my comments. It is just to show that your stance is wrong.. If Infosys is applying for over 6k applications, its their business which is well in line with the well established laws of the United States. H1B program was set up for this need and to cater to this need only. If someone is put on lottery, it is just their bad luck that their H1 application was put through this year. If your friend had applied for H1 last year, then even if Infy had put in 40k petitions, that wouldn’t have been a matter for you.

            I really empathize with your friend and I will feel very sorry if his H1 goes down in lottery and I pray to god that it shouldn’t. People of that level of proven academic excellence and the fact that he has started to work for facebook to change the social lives of all of us is not a joke. Infact, this makes a classic case for the STEM program.

          • Its not like that Shekar. Tell me one thing, why people cannot get first priority who have studied in india? and more over you cannot blame indian IT companies.
            There are many people surviving in india because of these companies and we may also rely on indian IT companies if our H1B go on toss in this lottery.
            Just think once.

      • Everyone should have an equal chance regardless of their education background or employer. No firm is more prestigious than another when it comes to the right to work. However, I do enjoy the drama Mr. Agrawal brought to the forum.

        Reply
    • You are referring to 10% or less of the total graduates. There is no point in complaining about MS graduates not getting work visas. Student visa is just for studies and not to work. Intent of F1 is to study and go back. I know lot of MS graduates working for consulting companies.

      Reply
    • The point is H-1B should be given on high priority to companies/employers that generate revenue in US by employing high skilled workers and then utilize that revenue to hire highly skilled employees in other work areas that do not require foreign nationals. It happens in companies like google, fb and many in the valley. A high skilled foreign national engineer will help build product A, 3-4 ,member highly skilled american sales/marketing team is put together to sell that product. I have seen this happen in start up’s. So the ratio has to be considered and priority given to companies who not only contribute to the economy but at the same time create more american jobs by the direct impact of high skilled foreign workers on the company’s revenue. Google lost 90 workers since they did not make it through lottery in 2008.

      Reply
      • Thats the whole point of reserving 20,000 for people who did Master and applying for H1B , Still you want more preference dont you think thats unfair. And alsso Master degree ppl get two shots at lottery.

        Reply
  5. USCIS was so stupid to annouce the anticipation. If there is a lottery, people will blame that USCIS causes the panic. If there is no lottery, they are idiots.

    Reply
  6. Below is the list of companies applied applied for h1b visa previous year greather than 100. Even we double the visa number with below count for big companies who are applying in large number like infosys and tcs. I dont think it goes to lottery but it would reach by EOM. Keep your fingures crossed.

    Name Number of Application
    Infosys Limited 6862
    Tata Consultancy Services Limited 1120
    Deloitte Consulting Lp 1029
    Microsoft Corp 817
    Wipro Limited 814
    Ibm 414
    Ibm India Private Limited 400
    Hcl America Inc 392
    Accenture 389
    Deloitte Touche Llp 386
    Larsen Toubro Infotech Limited 354
    Oracle America Inc 324
    Qualcomm 294
    Cognizant Technology Solutions U S 288
    Ernst Young Us Llp 283
    Mastech Inc A Mastech Holdings Inc Company 271
    Google Inc 243
    Cvs Rx Services Inc 225
    J P Morgan Chase 219
    Value Consulting Llc 211
    Amazon Corporate Llc 209
    Syntel Consulting Inc 184
    Patni Americas Inc 179
    Ust Global Inc 174
    Intel Corp 158
    Vsoft Consulting Group 148
    Apple Inc 143
    Sagarsoft Inc 142
    Igate Technologies Inc 142
    Marlabs Inc 130
    Avnet Inc 129
    Bank Of America Na 127
    Satyam Computer Services Limited 122
    Ebay Inc 120
    System Soft Technologies 118
    Hewlett Packard Co 117
    Digiblitz Technologies Pvt Ltd 115
    Price Water House Coopers Llp 114
    Walmart Associates Inc 113
    System 110
    Emc Corp 108
    Hcl Global Systems Inc 108
    New York University Hospitals Center 106
    Larsen Toubro Limited 105
    University Of Michigan 103
    Fujitsu America Inc 101
    Randstad Technologies, Lp 101

    Reply
    • that is indeed a great point! what it comes to after summing up? I too dont see any reason for thinking more than twice petitions from these companies; may be they will remain same. what did they gain in last year that they will sponsor much more? #LCA is not only for H1B, right? May be GC, reissue of H1B etc all eats up the count?

      Reply
    • This list is not true..Please don’t post unrealistic figures and crate rumours around.

      How could you get access to this data from different companies? This is purely internal stuff and even the people whose Visa are filed don’t know about the exact nos..

      Reply
      • And for a fact TCS has more than 10K LCA’s in pipeline this year 🙂

        My brother’s visa is being filed and he got this approx fig from the Immigration team..And this was a couple of months back data..the no maybe more!!!

        Reply
      • The list is completely inaccurate. See the link -http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-02-20/news/37200308_1_h-1b-programme-h1b-h-1b-visas
        As per the news 43+ applications were files bt IT companies.

        Reply
    • HCL applied for 2K+ visas last year. I know it as I work for them. Secondly TCS applied for 7K visas

      myvisajobs.com/Visa-Sponsor/HCL-Technologies-America/239259.htm

      U can search for all the big IT companies in the above link and see how many they applied for. So the data GIVEN ABOVE IS INCORRECT. PL DO NOT PASS WRONG DATA AND GIVE WRONG HOPE….

      Reply
      • people wants the hope.. At this point most of the people doesnt want to get into lottery system. so i am adding a hope to them…

        Whats your status? do you want to go to lottery?

        Reply
  7. It will be a lottery, thanks to USCIS march 15th update anticipating the lottery. This has triggered a panic among employers and they have all made sure to file on april 1st. So last year it got filled in june since employers were chilling out, For a fact we know every year the cap gets filled at some point. But now due to news reports and the news release everyone is filing in the first week. If there was no news release only the proactive employers would have made it and the cap would have filled lets say april 3rd week. but now lottery is very much a possibility. My advise to USCIS is to not release predictions in march. Forcing a lottery would let them focus on those applications selected in lottery rather than work all year long going through applications till cap is met.

    Reply
  8. Ok Guys, I have a question.
    In year 2008, when lottery was used, the cap was reached on first day itself. So did the USCIS updated them on 1st day itself or after the first week.
    In other words, I am asking if the cap is reached say on thursday for this year will USCIS let us know on thursday itself or we have to wait till Monday? Thanks

    Reply
    • USCIS will take in applications as they come. On 5th April 2014, it will check to see the number of applications received. If the count goes above 65K, a computer generated random selection will be done on those applications and 65k out of those will be selected. A receipt number will be generated for those lucky applications.

      Reply
      • Ref Example from 2009-
        http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=183f301458e49110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

        Reply
      • Thanks For your comment Bond, if according to you, system will count only at the end of week? in 2008 how did they come to know then what day cap reached? like they said it was reached on 1st april

        Reply
        • USCIS informed on first day of H1b filing that CAP has reached for FY2008, which is in the year 2007. Since FY2009 filing they have changed the procedure to keep 5 day filing window and only after 5 day filing window they informed public whether the cap reached, or they continue to accept the applications. So for your concern USCIS will inform only after 5 day filing window about number of applications. Till then no news; just hang on.

          Reply
          • “Based on feedback from a number of stakeholders, USCIS anticipates that it may receive more petitions than the H-1B cap between April 1, 2013 and April 5, 2013. USCIS will monitor the number of petitions received and notify the public of the date on which the numerical limit of the H-1B cap has been met.”

            This means, if the cap was reached yesterday, USCIS would have notified today or if it fills up today, USCIS will notify tomorrow. Notification is different from Accepting applications. No doubt USCIS will accept applications till April 5 (in case of lottery), but it will Notify on the day the cap is met.

        • Wow! You seem to have a command over English! Nice. We need more people like you in the US. This one is my favorite!! “it was reached on 1st april” Where did you learn English?

          Reply
          • I see some serious hints of sarcasm here. I’m like Sheldon in that regard. I hope you arn’t being sarcastic. 🙂

            Anyways, to address Manish’s query: Word is that USCIS may officially let us know by Monday. We may see some predictions come up on Friday but its unlikely that they will make a statement by then. Either way we will all know for sure by Monday, good or bad. Best of luck!

            BTW redbus2us has a separate Q&A section where you can join in the discussion.

          • Well this makes me believe that USCIS want to have lottery. If not, they should stop accepting the petitions once the quota is reached.

            I have a question – if USCIS rejects petitions for whatever reason, will they back fill those? I mean if they reject 100 candidates, will they ramdomly pick 100 more petitions from the pool?

          • btw, bond, every1 speaks good english in us. but they dont speak good computer language. us is asking for more people who speaks good computer language, not english.

  9. Regarding lottery, I found this in the official webside of USCIS:

    “If necessary, USCIS will apply a random selection process to all petitions received on the date when a sufficient number of petitions have been received to reach the applicable numerical limit (“final receipt date”) for cap-subject H-1B, H-2B and H-3 petitions regardless of whether Premium Processing Service is requested. ”

    To my understanding that says until the cap is not reached, the petitions filed will not be considered for lottery. If the cap is reached say on day#4, only the petitions filed on that day will be considered for lottery to fill up the cap. Those filed on day#1/2/3 will not.

    Can anybody confirm that?

    Reply
    • I think if the cap is filled within first week, all applications within first week is subject to lottery which is really sad. I hope what you said is actually the case then it will be a lot easier.

      Reply
    • “”” If the cap gets filled on day 4, only those applied on day 4 will get into lottery and day 1/2/3 are not.. “””

      I hope what you said is true, but it isn’t.

      US Govt want to be fair enough and count the delay that could be made by postal service, that’s why they do all processing at the end of the week …..

      Reply
    • oh wow.

      “””
      …. all petitions received on the date when a sufficient number ……
      “””

      did not read this part of the line when it said “on the date”…
      No idea dude…..

      But this is the reply I received by my attorney, and I have complete faith on them… Rest, god knows…. 🙂

      If the cap is reached before Friday, April 5, then all petitions received by USCIS between April 1 and April 5 will be placed into a lottery (Master’s cap cases will get 2 chances at selection – 1 under the Master’s cap and 1 under the regular cap).

      Reply
  10. Hi Guy’s

    CAP Count for Premium Processing starting from April 15th…
    No Employer will send Premium Processing application before April 15th…

    Thanks
    NKumar

    Reply
    • What ??

      Who told you that “””No Employer will send Premium Processing application before April 15th… “””

      My employer sent the application and uscis has received that on Apr 1 on premium processing.

      True that the premium processing will start on Apr 15, but you have to send the application beforehand and your application will be counted along with others. Its just that if your application is selected in lottery (if lottery happens), your processing will start on Apr 15

      Reply
      • Guys,
        Is it possible that USCIS gives preference to the PP applicants even in case of a lottery?
        That would make them more money.
        If they recieve a total of 130K applications and 20K out of that with PP. In a random draw, 10K PP applications will get picked(just probablity), making them about $12 million.
        On the other hand, if they give some kind of preference to the PP applications and pick 15K of them, it makes them $18 million extra money. I would do it if I were in charge.
        No one will know if they did that.
        That won’t be good for the regular cases.

        Reply
    • My PP petition was delivered at USCIS on 1st April. I think they are starting premium processing on 15th April while they can still accept PP application from 1st April. Correct me if i am wrong.

      Reply
      • You are absolutely correct. Its just that if they have more petitions in the category you applied (regular/advanced), PP will also go for lottery. In case, you get thru the lottery, your processing will start on Apr 15 and decision will be made on/before Apr 30.

        Reply
    • Guys please dont spread the misleading news, if you dont know its better to mum.
      You can apply any time for premium processing, but large volume of applications (as predicted by USCIS), they will start proceccing the PP cases starting from 15th april. So it dont matter if you are applying for PP on 1st april or 14th april, they will statrt looking into apllications from april 15th.

      Reply
      • Well, by your confidence I think you know the internal processing of USCIS.

        What does this mean?
        “””So it dont matter if you are applying for PP on 1st april or 14th april”””

        If USCIS doesn’t even count the PP applications before Apr 14, what will happen if their is a lottery? Can you tell us ? Since, the cap is full, and there is a lottery, and also since PP applications will be counted after Apr 14, according to your logic, their is no hope for PP applicants, since as far as I know, there isn’t a separate quota for PP applications?

        Any ideas?

        Well, it’s upon you to believe it or not. I am working in a top notch IT Research firm in DC and my case is filed by one of the best law attorney. He told me that your application will be counted and if their is a lottery, you are in the lottery. But your processing will begin on Apr 15, due to heave traffic. So, PP applicants also cannot avoid lottery, if there will be one.

        Now its upon you to believe it or not, but don’t blame others for spreading misleading news.

        Thanks…..

        Reply
        • Hey bro, thre is nothing about confidence, sorry if my previous comment found you blunt.
          please See below from USCIS website.

          USCIS Announcement Regarding Premium Processing for H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions

          The filing period for H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2014 numerical cap begins on April 1, 2013. USCIS anticipates that it may receive more than 65,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions and more than 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of individuals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher between April 1, 2013, and April 5, 2013. This could be the first time since April 2008 that the H-1B cap will require a lottery.

          USCIS provides premium processing service for certain employment-based petitions and guarantees a 15-calendar-day processing time. Due to the historic premium processing receipt levels, combined with the possibility that the H-1B cap will be met in the first 5 business days of the filing season, USCIS has temporarily adjusted its current premium processing practice. To facilitate the prioritized data entry of cap-subject petitions requesting premium processing, and in accordance with 8 CFR 103.7(e)(3)(ii), USCIS is announcing that premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions, including H-1B petitions seeking an exemption from the fiscal year cap for individuals who have earned a U.S. master’s degree or higher, will begin on April 15, 2013.

          USCIS will continue to accept Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, with fee, concurrently with the Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, during the time period that premium processing is unavailable – from April 1 to April 14, 2013. Petitioners may also upgrade a pending H-1B cap petition to premium processing once a receipt notice is issued. All requests for premium processing received between April 1, 2013, and April 14, 2013, will be adjudicated when premium processing begins on April 15, 2013.

          While the Form I-797 receipt notice may indicate the date that the premium processing fee is received, the 15-day processing period set by 8 CFR 103.7(e)(2) will not begin until April 15, 2013. The 15-day processing period for premium processing service for H-1B petitions that are not subject to the cap, or for any other eligible classification, continues to begin on the date that the request is received.

          Reply
          • Manish,

            I am not being cynical, just saying that I spoke to attorney and found this thing.

            Even if you read the USCIS article properly, it doesn’t say that it makes no difference for PP if you apply on Apr 1 or Apr 14..

            It could be the case if cap doesn’t get full by Apr 14, but this time, it will make a difference.

            Just think,
            What will happen for a PP applicant applied on Apr 1, and a PP applicant applied on Apr 13, if the cap get filled on Apr 10…..
            ******* The PP applicant applied on Apr 1 will go for a lottery and that who applied on Apr 13 won’t get considered.

          • Well there are lot of Gray areas in their announcement but again It dont matter if the cap reaches on 1st april or 10th or 13th or 14th. The USCIS has declared temporarily adjusted PP on 15th april, thats what the article says.

          • Folks,

            Here’s how it works(Assuming the cap is reached by april 5th and there’s going to be a lottery)
            1)First they receive the applications (With or without PP) between April 1st and 5th.
            2)Then they pick the lucky ones through lottery
            those lucky one will have both types – Regular and PP
            3)Next they start processing them
            –If it’s a regular case, it is processed at usual speed with a timeframe of 2-3 months
            –If it’s a PP case, it has to be processed fast and be adjudicated by April 30th. They have an obligation of processing PP cases in 15 days, but according to the recent memo, this 15 day period does not start until April 15th, so they have until April 30th to process PP cases. Could be much before that but the wont be legally bound to process them before the 30th.

            It’s just the processing timeframe that PP cases differ from the regular ones. When it comes to filing and selecting(Steps 1 and 2), there is no difference -(Unless there’s some kind of preferential treatment being given to PP cases in the lottery which no one knows)

        • Well… PP is no difference with regular processing. From april 15th PP cases will be looked into and you can expect an answer by april 30. If you apply on april 20th then expect by may 5th.

          PP is a Service level agreement and you should have an answer within 15 days of paying the fee. Regular can always convert to PP any time once your case is accepted.

          Since you said that you work for a top notch IT research firm and i believe you have work to do. Please do not waste time here blaming others. Now close the browser and get to work.

          Reply
      • I did not see anything wrong with Manish’s post. Premium Processing is a rather independent process. It says here that one can upgrade to Premium Processing if initially filed for regular processing which means a person can file application first and then apply(upgrade to) for PP. Manish did not say one can file H1B APPLICATION any time.

        Also, why be so cynical. Even if he is wrong, correct him politely. Thanks

        Reply
  11. Hi Guy’s

    If H1B Cap reached by 65K, then USCIS will declare on that day it self…

    see the past history… Today is April 3rd .. we hope that USCIS did not reached CAP count 65K on April 3rd…

    Dont belive any rumours…

    Thanks
    NKumar

    Reply
    • Might be end of the day in East, but here it’s the start of the 3rd April, so consider only two days of application till now and not for 3 days.

      I hope 65k cap will get filled on Thursday and wont even take Friday.

      FedEx alone delivered 23k packages to both the centers on Apr 1, though they could not deliver it all and missed few due to heave traffic.

      Reply
      • The amount of applications USCIS receives are more on 1st and 2nd april as compare to other days. Because people wait all year to submit their application, so most of the people submit them on first two days itself, rather on first day. Just a thought

        Reply
  12. Hi,
    have you tried “google trends” for “h1b” keyword.
    Look at it http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=h1b. It is very higher than FY 2008 and FY 2009. So I think (unfortunately) it is obvious that there will be lottery this year.

    good luck to all.

    Reply
  13. Please reply if you know, please don’t guess.

    If they receive 65k + applications for regular cap, and 20k – applications for advanced cap, will the advanced cap applications be also put under lottery?

    Reply
    • Hi Guy’s

      If H1B Cap reached by 65K, then USCIS will declare on that day it self…

      see the past history… Today is April 3rd .. we hope that USCIS did not reached CAP count 65K on April 3rd…

      Dont belive any rumours…

      Thanks
      NKumar

      Reply
      • Well I got the answer from my attorney.

        The 20,000 Master’s exemption will still remain open if less than 20,000 petitions are received, even if the regular 65,000 cap is met early.

        That gives me a good relief. Because the skewness occurred this year which I believe is due to more petitions from Indian IT companies and consultants and most of them will apply for regular cap. Last time, the advanced cap was closed on June 7, 2012.. So I guess, considering the better job market, it will take at least 15 days to fill up the cap in the advanced cap.

        This is just a speculation and not supported by any facts.

        Reply
          • This is how it works with regards to Masters’ cap

            First of all, They WILL continue to accept ALL applications until April 5th even if the cap is reached on the first day itself.

            Then they separate the masters cases from others.
            If both types exceed their limits (65K for regular and 20K for Masters), they will first hold a lottery to select 20K cases from the Masters pool. Those who are NOT selected in this ‘masters only lottery’, will be added to the regular pool.
            Then they hold another lottery to select 65K from the regular pool -which now includes the unlucky ones from the masters pool as well.

            Example:

            Regular apps received until April 5th = 100,000
            Masters apps received until April 5th = 30,000

            Lottery 1 : Select 20,000 out of masters pool of 30,000

            Add the unlucky 10,000 to the regular pool

            Lottery 2: randomly select 65,000 out of 110,000 applications(100,000 regular and 10,000 masters not selected in Lottery 1)

            Masters cap being reached before april 5th negatively affects regular applicants as the probability of them being picked is reduced by the number of masters cases not selected in masters only lottery.

            If the cap is NOT reached by April 5th, then all applications recieved until april 5th will be accepted and from then on, there will be a daily count. they will hold a ‘mini-lottery’ on the day the number of applications reach the max limit. this mini lottery will only be held among the cases received on that one day.

            hope this helps

  14. Hi,

    One counsultancy has approached me and they are willing to file h1b for me for this year. I have submitted documents today to them and will be making the payment today. What are the chances of them filing H1 for me? Should I go forward or wait till next year?

    Thanks for the the suggestion.

    Reply
    • Please do not go with this consultant. By the time he files your petition it will be too late. Most probably he is only interested in your money.

      Reply
    • Hi robert,
      Few consultancies they apply for extra LCA’s in advance. So if they already have LCA for your position, I dont see any problem. Also, ask your consultancy that if you can have your attorney, the good thing about having your own attorney is attorney will let you know if your consultancy have good record with USCIS (good records means they pay taxes and everything on time), with your attorney things will be in your hands. But again lot of consultancies dont allow you, using your own attorney because they dont want to share their information, they have their own lawyers. Best of luck.

      Reply
    • do you understand that ‘making the payment’ for your H1B is Illegal?
      Both you and your so called employer may get in trouble for that.
      This guy is after your money.
      If you sent your documents today, it will take about 4-5 days before they can even file your H1. they have to get LCA filed first and have it approved, which takes 3-5 days, then they send in your application. you’re looking at a filing date of april 9th to april 12th, best case scenario.

      Reply
  15. Hi,
    As per my employer they have sent my application for filing with USCIS on 27 Mar 2013. What are the chances of my petition being filed..

    Thanks

    Reply
  16. Myself Ankita ,

    Can anyone know the exact Number of H1B processed by Multinational companies like Microsoft , TCS , Infosys , etc etc etc

    If some one know then please reply !!!
    Thank You

    Reply
      • TCS this year is processing 9-10k applications. Cognizant also about 11k, Infosys 8k, IBM-2k, Accenture-4k. Hcl-3k, TechM-3k. I got this information from there immigration team as I work in one of these company and have good contacts.

        H1b cap will be filled by April 5th itself. These are only indian applications, there will be many more from other companies. I believe almost 100-120k applications will be recieved by USCIS by April 5th in 65k category itself

        Reply
  17. My employer is filing for H1b for me. Its one of the top IT companies in India. I’ve been waiting for longer time to have one atleast intiated for me when all my friends are already in US. So I am really worried about this all lottery speculations. Also, I am not sure how do I make sure they have sent my petition to USCIS already.

    Reply
    • Ravi,
      Ask your company to provide you tracking number of postal service they used to sent your application. You can track it online.
      Well another suggestion, if they havent sent your application, trust me you are more happy than your friends in US. they r in hell and u r in heaven. Next year you can apply for hell again (: but I hope your company has submitted your application this year and you get the approval. Good luck

      Reply
  18. Hi guys looks like ya all know what you are talkin abaout. Will the visa fees be returned if my application is not selected in lottery? It’s a newbie question.

    Reply
  19. H1B 2014 Filings unofficial Updates:

    Source 1 (immi law):
    1) There are unofficial reports coming out from various sources relating to the FEDEX, UPS, USPS indicating that there were massive (5 digits) overnight deliveries to the California Service Center and Vermont Service Center today, April 1. Please stay tuned for development of this news.
    2) Attorneys and AILA report that there was a failure of delivery of the H-1B cap filings by FEDEX yesterday and currently situation appears to be fluid. No one knows the exact cause of these delays. It could be related to the Service Centers’ demand to cope with the mountain of packages or Fedex own problem. The employers are advised not to worry too much about the reach of cap, because as this site repeatedly advised the employers, delay time would not affect their cases for the purpose of cap inasmuch as they are delivered to the facilities of CSC or VSC befond the end of the agency’s business day on Friday, April 5, 2013. Relax, employers!

    Source 2 (ilw):
    1) As of this writing early Tuesday morning, April 2, USCIS has not yet, to the best of my knowledge, released any figures about how many H-1B cap petitions were received on April 1, but a FedEx representative looking into my two undelivered packages told me that 23,000 packages came in the two VSC locations handling H-1B cap cases (including both regular filing and premium processing addresses).
    2) I had sent out for “guaranteed” April 1 delivery by FedEx this past weekend, did not in fact arrive at the Vermont Service Center that day, but were held up in the Memphis TN hub FedEx office because of heavy volume at the FedEx location which serves the VSC

    Prediction: It would be a reasonable assumption that the H-1B cap may be reached this week and a lottery may be triggered.

    Reply
  20. I dont know if this figure is fake or true, but I must a thing… Applicants must not be categorized just by first come first serve. Preferences should be given to those who have done studies in US and have worked here before on OPT.

    Its utter non sense to mix up all applicants, and having lottery system, in which even students studied from good US universities might get rejected though they applied on the first day.

    I don’t know much about the approach USCIS follows, but if they do lottery right from the beginning due to high volume, their is flaw in the system .

    Reply
    • I have couple of questions:
      1. Assume this year we have a lottery and what happens when USCIS rejects some applications and there are some vacant seats? Does this go for lottery again from the previous pool or there is new submission process?

      2. I am already working on L1-B visa and applying this year for H1. My attorney asked me for my recent salary slip. But unfortunately my salary slips are available till last Nov and before which I have already provided. Does any one know if this could coz any trouble with my application.
      I will be providing the latest salary slip by end of this month anyways:(

      Thanks in advance!
      Pady

      Reply
      • Check out question 3.
        http://redbus2us.com/5-myths-about-h1b-visas-filing-and-approvals-premium-processing-ms-in-us/.
        My understanding is that there are 65,000 caps offered, not really 65,000 visas offered?

        Reply
    • Why are they ashamed? Sorry, I just applied for a H1B, it’s a whole new thing for me and I’m waiting really anxiously if there will be a lottery or not. So I just want to understand why you say they are ashamed of posting that prediction.

      Reply
  21. How long will uscis wait to decide if its lottery or not? Say by April 5 th or 9 th the petitions are normal and they hike up in next few days ..so all they had received till 5th will be on lottery too?

    Reply
    • if number of petitions received by say 5th April are normal then USCIS might decide not to have lottery and if on say 9th April applications hike up then USCIS might have lottery only on those applications that are received on “Cap Reach Date/Final Receipt Date” (not on the ones that are received before). I think it has happened before.

      Reply
  22. guyz,
    it is unnecessary to know the number today.
    only after 5th is the number important for us. Because, until 5th they will not open any application. they will just take all the incoming applications until april 5th( even its a number higher than 100000000000000). only after 5th we shall know that its a lottery or a normal one.

    Reply
  23. Is the figure 45K really a concern now. Please do not fake in this forum.
    I think everyone reading and replying this forum is anxious to make it to US.

    Reply
  24. I have read through many articles on h1b cap count and lca filings. I read in one of the articles it says by March 12th the h1b lca are filed around 58,500 in which one lca could have multiple recipients. Very less lcas were rejected around 1100. We cannot rely on that source.

    Reading comments in this article that some are applying now for lcas. so we definitly will end h1b cap count in first two weeks. But i am positive we dont go through lottery.

    Be positive

    Reply
    • That include the LCA transfer for existing H1 B visa holder. Atleast 30% of this will be for existing H1 B visa holder.

      Reply
  25. Guys,

    Looks as if USCIS will not give daily updates(probably as expected). But they seem to suggest that they will only let us know when the cap is reached. Link below.

    http://www.myonestopforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=44

    Any thoughts?

    Reply
  26. Guys just got off the phone with my layer who has informed from an inside USCIS source that USCIS has received approximately 45K application on the first day (April 1st). It looks like we are heading or a lottery!

    Reply
  27. What are the documents needed for H1-B? Do we need to submit work experience/payslips too even if our work assignments are outside of US?

    Reply
    • Kavitha,
      Valid Passport, Ref letters for experience, Your offer letter, Education Certs.
      Please talk to your employer or an immigration attorney about this.

      Reply
  28. Hi all, My organization started the process of my h1b in the month of december. and my LCA has been done in the month of march, prepared my application n march second week itself.
    and they might sent my application to USCIS.

    Even though USCIS increased the visa fee and other constraints , My worries is towards the lottery process is increasing day by day.. lets see. what is going to happn.

    we should not say a best of luck again in this process 🙁

    Reply
  29. My LCA was submitted on 28 of march and is still awaiting certification from dept of labor. Any clue on by when will it get certified and will i be able to file a petition in time before april 5 ?

    Reply
      • Hi “A Friend”,

        My LCA was applied on 26 March 2013 by my employers attorney. Can you please tell me how to knew whether mine is received or not ? Will the candidate be given a copy of Certified LCA.

        Thanks in Advance

        Reply
        • Hello Imran,

          I was informed by my employer about the LCA certification. So you should check with them, I saw an update that the LCA certified “courtesy mail” could not be sent due to high number of LCA applications. You should ask for the LCA case number and then check for yourself the status on the iCERT webpage, just to be sure. 🙂

          Reply
          • Thanks Buddy.

            I got my LCA certified on April 1 and my H1 is sent to USCIS on Apr 2. Awaiting for the next stage to get cleared 🙂

  30. hi , i ‘ve many questions on h1b visa.. can any one of you get me a place where i’ll clear my doubts? if any one of you are willing to clear my doubts, please contact me/txt me @ 9841739599.

    Reply
  31. The consultant who is helping me file my H1 told me that the petitiions will be in USCIS’s dropbox till April 5th and they would be accepting petitions only after April 5. He said the attorney also confirmed this. Does anyone know about this ?

    Reply
    • I am not sure what do they mean by accepting petition after Apr, 5. What you can do is ask for courier tracking number from your agency. I have got from mine and on FedEx site it says delivered to USCIS front desk.

      Reply
    • yes, they will not open any applications till 5th.
      after that if the number of applications exceed 85000, then they will go for a lottery.

      Reply
  32. Don`t Worry its not going to end today. Usually it will take some time to updat the status. I think tomorrow might we able to get some update.

    Reply
  33. It is strongly predicted that h1 quota will go into lottery this year. Look at the weblink below:
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-28/america-losing-technology-workers-denied-in-visa-lottery.html

    Reply
    • Hi ,
      It takes around two weeks in general to get your petition number from the date your petition is filed, it could be earlier or later in few cases. It took 15 days for me last year.

      Reply
      • My lawyer has n’t received the receipt number. Once she gets it, she will send me.can you pls tell me , when will she get the receipt number ??

        Reply
      • Rekha, Does package mailed means petition filed ?? my package mailed on March 30.
        I asked my attorney about the process and she replied , once she receives the receipt number, she will send me.. When will she get the receipt number ??

        Reply
    • Hi Maneesh,
      It can take around 10 days to 2 weeks but in case if there are more number of application reaching uscis on the same day there may be a delay which USCIS will announce.

      Reply
  34. As per me there is no way possible for lottery . 1.No consultancies are doing h1b for free 2. Ppl are not ready to take risk in paying the huge amounts . 3.as per the news the lca applied are not more than 80000 which includes new and transfers .

    Reply
  35. Hi Saurabh

    I believe that in order to be eligible for H1B visa you have to be in a specialty occupation. My wife is an MBA in HR from India. she has worked in US as an IT Recruiter on L2 Visa earlier. Is she eligible to file H1B assuming we find a sponsor for her for the Recruiter position.

    thanks..NG

    Reply
    • Hi,
      As per my employer they have sent my application for filing with USCIS on 27 Mar 2013. What are the chances of my petition being filed..

      Thanks

      Reply

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