H1B 2014 Cap reached on April 5th, 2013. Read : 124,000 H1B Visas Filed. Lottery Process
For this year FY 2015 H1B Info read : H1B Visa 2015 – FAQs
Page Updated : January 18th , 2014
As USCIS is all set to accept H1B Visa petitions for the fiscal year 2014, many of you have questions on various aspects of filing H1B Visa 2014 like fee involved, lottery chances, H1B sponsors, Change of status, start date, end date of accepting H1B Visas, etc. This page will track all the H1B Visa 2014 News updates, Cap count information, FAQs, etc. Bookmark this page ! We have divided the page to various sub sections for your convenience.
FYI. Last year quota,which is H1B visa 2013 cap reached on June 11th, 2012.
H1B Visa 2014 News Updates
- USCIS Update : 124,000 Petitions Received. Lottery Process followed. News Summary
- H1B Visa 2014 Quota Cap reached on April 5th, USCIS official Update
- USCIS First Cap count update FY 2014 – April 8th or 5th ?
- Will there be Lottery for H1B Visa FY 2014 ? USCIS Data Analysis, Prediction
- USCIS Press Release : Petitions accepted from April 1st. Lottery ?
FAQs – All you need to Know !
Over the years, we have observed that prospective H1B visa seekers are always looking for certain pieces of information. We have grouped such information and created FAQs as listed below :
When will H1B Visa filing season start for Fiscal year(FY) 2014 ?
H1B visa filing season for fiscal year 2014 starts from April 1st, 2013. USCIS did a press release confirming the same.
How to find H1B Visa 2014 Sponsors ? Various Ways to find H1B Sponsoring companies
Finding right H1B Sponsor can be a very daunting task. There are few options to find sponsors like checking the H1B Sponsors Database and randomly contacting employers, working with IT outsourcing companies, looking at options in American Universities, Networking with friends. Each of these options are explained in this article :
How to find H1B Visa 2014 Sponsors ? Avoid Fraud
Why do we call H1B Visa 2014, when the petitions are filed in 2013 ?
USCIS operates on a fiscal year basis instead of calendar year ( Jan 1 to Dec 31st). Its fiscal year starts from October 1st and ends on September 30th. On that lines, USCIS’s fiscal year for 2014 starts from October 1st, 2013 and lasts until September 30th, 2014. So, though we file H1B petitions in April of 2013, they are counted towards H1B visa fiscal year 2014 and everyone calls it in short form as H1B visa 2014.
What is H1B visa 2014 Cap count for Regular quota and Masters Quota ?
If you are not aware of H1B cap count, it is the congressionally mandated numeric limits for H1B petitions based on category. Regular quota is for anyone who meets H1B visa requirements and Masters quota is specifically for students who have a Masters degree from US University. Typically, below are the numeric limits… ( we had these H1B cap limits set in 2004, if any changes by USCIS, we will update this page)
- Regular Quota Cap – 65,000
- Masters Degree Quota Cap – 20,000
Also, typically USCIS sets aside 6,800 visas for Singapore and Chile Free Trade agreement filings, which is H1B1 Program. Also, read article All about H1B Caps – Basics Calculations, Lottery
H1B Visa 2014 filing deadline – What is the last date ?
Well, there is no set deadline as such by USCIS. They start to accept petitions from April 1st, 2013 and will continue to accept H1B petitions until the H1B cap (85,000) is reached. It can vary based on the H1B visa demand.
- For H1B Visa 2012, the cap was complete on November 22nd,2011
- For H1B visa 2011, the cap reached on January 26th , 2011
Will there be Lottery for H1B Visa 2014 ?
This is most commonly speculated question by many H1B seekers. Due to very high demand and hype for H1B workers, we had lottery in some of the previous years. But we do not know, we just have to speculate based on past data and economic conditions. As done in previous years, here is our analysis:
Check out H1B Visa 2014 Lottery prediction- USCIS Data Analysis
. You can also check out last year’s: H1B Visa 2013 lottery prediction
What will be H1B visa 2014 filing fee ? Any changes ?
There has not been any changes to the filing fee for the fiscal year 2014. Check out the article : H1B visa 2014 filing fee – Who Pays for what ?. In general, it can range from $1,575 to $4,325 based on the number of employees ( this does not does not include attorney fee and premium processing fee).
International Students – Can we do Change of Status ( COS) from F1 Visa to H1B visa for FY 2014 ?
Yes, international students pursing their Bachelors, Masters or PhD programs from US Universities, who may be working on OPT, can file a H1B Visa petition to USCIS with Change of Status(COS) option. The advantage of COS from F1 visa to H1B visa is that you can continue to work after OPT expiration starting from October 1st, 2013 without leaving the country. You have to do the COS before your OPT expires to maintain legal status in America.
How soon Can I start working, if I file for H1B visa 2014 fiscal year ?
One can start working from October 1st, 2013 , if you have an approved H1B petition. You may need to get H1B visa stamping done, if you file your petition from overseas and wish to come to America on H1B visa.. Unlike, if you are filing for a COS by staying in US, you can start to work without leaving US for H1B visa stamping.
What is current H1B visa 2014 cap count ?
The H1B season for FY 2014 will begin on April 1st, 2013. We will keep track of the USCIS cap count updates with analysis.
All H1B Cap counts will be tracked at : H1B visa 2014 Cap Count Tracker .
In the mean time, you can check out our FY 2013’s : H1B visa 2013 Cap count Tracker
Would you like to be informed about H1B visa 2014 ?
Hi,
Are the first 20,000 petitions for the Master’s CAP considered for the lottery?
Hrishi
Depends, if they receive more than 20k application under master CAP within the stipulated time frame i.e. 5th April, then there are chances of lottery in this category too. No one here can predict what is gonna happen next week.
USCIS says “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.”
So here is my guess: since USCIS did not made any decision on April 3, means the cap is not rach to the max. So the chances of the lottery is geting lower and lower.
What do you say friends !
Hold your nerves , April 3 is not over yet in US timings 🙂
MPS,
USCIS will consider all application in first week. if on friday count is less than 65k then no lottery otherwise they will stop accepting the application.
Optimism is good but lack of knowledge is bad
Probably MPS is right. If there is a craze, it will be on 1st april only or maximum 2nd april due to delay in shipment. Then onward, number of incoming petition should decrease. Thats because those who are desperate will try to send on the first day itself. Second, even if lottery happens, it might be with marginal denial — so changes of each getting selected is more. Unless you are very unlucky to be de-selected by lottery, your term should come.
Enjoy!
c->g (chances->changes) transition detection will improve readability of above mail.
There’s NO difference whether the petition is received on April 1 or April 5.
Here is a diagram which explains h1b process, which involved LCA, I-129 and other entities.
http://www.happyschoolsblog.com/h1b-visa-2014/
Hi
My LCA was filed on march 28th,I want to know when will it get approved?Am I able to file for H-1B?and also I heard lottery system this year….what is the probability of that.
Please give me an answer,I m not able to sleep properly with these tensions..
Thanks.
LCA usually takes 7 days
ask your lawyer for case number and track on DOL iCert website
probability of lottery: high
Sorry to say that but I guess it is too late. Based on th eprediction they are making the quota is going to over on or before April 5. Take your decision. Good Luck !
You wouldn’t have thought about applying for LCA if you are not having US Masters. If you get LCA approval before this Friday, have all remaining docs ready and sent for next Monday arrival. Most likely you will have chance.
H1b is not life sleep properly mam….
I have got below from –
http://redbus2us.com/qa/8903/what-is-h1b-lottery-and-how-is-it-operated
I hope below hold true….
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 say until the cap is not reached, the petitions filed will not be considered for lottery. If the cap is reached e.g. 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?
Shiv – i wish this was true but it is not IF the cap is reached before April 5. At least, that’s my understanding. I hope i am wrong!
I don’t think so. Let’s take CAP is reached on April 3rd, but USCIS will accept the applications till Apr 5th. USCIS will not accept applications beyond 5th Apr. And then lottery is applied on all applications received before 5th Apr for all 5 days.
that is not fair at all.
Thats right. By rule, USCIS must take application for at least one week (5 days). If cap reached before that, all participates in lottery and no further applications are accepted next week onward. Otherwise no lottery and first come first serve applies. So if you can submit petition on or before 5th april, everybody has got same chance.
where did you see this rule?
Thanks,
From USCIS website ‘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 date is known as the final receipt date. If USCIS receives more petitions than it can accept, USCIS will use a lottery system to randomly select the number of petitions required to reach the numerical limit.’
I don’t think USCIS mentioned the process (how many days they will consider) for lottery, if any.
Not true. Read this link and rule from USCIS site. Someone named Jeff had posted this in another thread on redbus2us site, not my discovery.
USCIS regulation: 8 CFR §214.2(h)(8)(ii)(B)
link: http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/SLB/HTML/SLB/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-11261/0-0-0-17197/0-0-0-18547.html
extracted from the rule (last line): If the final receipt date is any of the first five business days on which petitions subject to the applicable numerical limit may be received (i.e., if the numerical limit is reached on any one of the first five business days that filings can be made), USCIS will randomly apply all of the numbers among the petitions received on any of those five business days, conducting the random selection among the petitions subject to the exemption under section 214(g)(5)(C) of the Act first. (Revised 3/24/08; 73 FR 15389 ) (Revised 5/5/05; 70 FR 23775 )
Why speculate? Wait till there is an official update. You’ll know for sure.
There is always a “person close to the sources said on a condition of anonymity…” in every damn sensational story. Why not in this one? Also I understand that having an info on the number of applications received per day has no use anyway. Doesn’t it seem odd to you that there is little talk on this matter in other famous and popular immigration sites/forums?
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.
23000 applications doesn’t mean that lottery will be triggered.. that’s not a whole lot number.
If you add up 20K approx received by CSC with 23K application going to VSC .Total of 43K is still a low number to trigger a lottery.
The reason is: How many of these belong to Masters quota and Regular quota.If you remove 15K out of 43 k toward Masters quota .Only 28k are received towards relugar cap and this number is too low to trigger a lottery.
However it would be intresting to see how many application will these both Service centers recive between 02 to 05
Any thoughts on this friends?
Only thing I ‘am not sure is how many such packages are being delivered by other couriers such as UPS & USPS to both the service centers. The count of 23000 is from FedEx to one of the service centers.
As an aside – most of the applicants for this year would have rushed in with their filings by April-1 or April-2 – because of the popular opinion among immigration attorneys that cap will be reached earlier than last year’s & thereby the need to submit by April-1 (and also, fueled by the USCIS press release around mid march). So that said, what may define whether a lottery is triggered or not is the volume of applications filed within the first 2 days (since I assume that count will form 80 to 95% of applications filed during the first 5 days). It would be interesting to find out what is this first 2-day volume of applications.
23000 packages for Fedex alone? then you might start to think how many packages USPS and UPS will deliver… Also, 23000 packages may contain far more than 23000 applications. My company is applying over 20 H1b this year and I am sure they will be mailed in a single package… It this 23000 is true, then this year will be terrible…
23k, combined at both the CS , not VT alone.
I really do wish the count of 23000 is for both the service centers. However, the news article above states that this count is for the two VSC locations (apparently, there are 2 different addresses for VSC centers to which applications are being mailed to).
Out of total number of applications received on 1 and 2 ,How many applications belong to Masters cap and Regular cap.
I dont think there is a way to know that split. But on the brighter side – not all of that 23k applications might be H1B cap related cases. Some of that may not even be H1B cases – could be other category applications too.
Are there are any rumours going on about the number of H1B applications recieved today (02-April-2013). Thanks
Do you want roumours -here you go
1.Apr 1,2013 -30k
2.Apr 2,2013-15k
No lottery .Have a Bisleri!!
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.
I heard rumour from Fedex that they delivered 40000+ packages in last 2 days till Noon today at VSC. That’s only for Fedex there are other couriers as well and CSC. So I believe it already reached the CAP.
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.
rocky11ricky at yahoo dot com
“The USCIS plans to announce by the middle of next week if it will hold a lottery for the visas, a spokesman told Reuters on Monday. It had previously said it anticipated the quota for the year starting October 1 could be met by Friday.”
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/02/us-usa-immigration-visas-idUSBRE93101620130402
So, it seems, they have not been receiving as many numbers as expected. Or may be they do. Who knows.
Also: “Unusually large number of LCAs….”
Source: http://ashwinsharma.com/2013/03/26/dept-of-labor-indicates-that-unusually-high-number-of-cases-filed-issuing-generic-lca-certification-notices/
Waiting…
Thanks this is useful info….
USCIS announced on 15th March that quota will reach by 5th April. Is that one of the reasons why there is large volume of LCAs filed around last week of March? I mean, I have not heard anyone getting “Courtsey Email” from DOL before USCIS’s announcement. High LCA volume does not neccessarily mean more than 85K LCAs. It might mean there is less time to process large number of LCAs that DOL has received in last week or so. And I think that high volume is driven by USCIS’s prediction.
maybe I am overthinking or over-optimistic but look at the events in chronological order. 15th March USCIS’s Announcement and 26 March Ashwin Sharma posted on his blog that DOL is sending Courtsey emails to applicants.
What does that tell you?
All in all, all i am saying is USCIS’s H1B alert (on 15th March) might be the reason why there is congestion of LCAs at DOL.
Cause is : USCIS Alert (3/15) and Effect is: High Volume of LCAs (3/26).
While some people are thinking it in exactly opposite way; Cause is: High Volume of LCAs which can justify (Effect) USCIS’s alert and lottery predictions (which in my opinion is not right).
Again, its just an opinion.
So how long is USCIS taking to approve the LCA petitions. Thanks
It is the DOL (Dept. of Labor) that approves LCA (Labor Condition Application) a pre-requisite for filing H1-B petition, not the USCIS. USCIS processes H1-B petitions. Without LCA, H1-B application will be rejected by USCIS.
Do any know about the number of application received till today? Any update on the cap count?
Below link will give you the count…I am not sure when exactly it will be updated..
http://www.uscis.gov/h-1b_count
Last updated:03/15/2013
They will update the count beginning next week. If they receive overwhelming number of application exceeding 65K for non masters category, then lottery will be drawn. Wait till end of this week.
Hi Saurabh,
My employer applied for my LCA on 26th Mar and i am still waiting for it. It is almost 6 days now. Can i be able to file for h1 b ? Please let me know.
Hi,
If your application reaches by April-5 you will make through lottery, get all things ready before LCA approval and submit your documents using FedEx overnight delivery.,
Hi all,
Iam going to get graduating in july 30th 2013,I dont want take opt,Directly i want to work with an H1b bcz I have to travel india this year ending ,I dont have stamping and i came on different status now iam in f1.Please help me in this case.Is there any chance to apply h1b this year?some consultancy people are saying yeah we can ,somebody saying no?please help me out in this .
Someone who is saying Yes – are they asking for money? Wait for couple of days and see what are the number of H1B petitions reached to USCIS.
I am not sure about the change of status to F1 and whether you need a new stamping or not.
Hi,
Same situation which I was in. I entered in US on b1/b2 and later changed my status to F1. I didn’t travel thoughout the course of my MS degree because once I had travelled I would have had to get F1 stamp on my passport – which is tricky. While doing MS, I worked on CPT and after that worked on 1 year OPT. Since my degree was STEM eligible so I got another 17 months extension; from which 4 months has already passed and my employer has already filled for my h1b – hopefully Fedex delivered on April 1st in Vermont Service Center.
MY suggesstion would be – if you are studying in renouned university then you shouldn’t have any issues but you will have to get F1 stamp on your passport. If I were you, I would have gotten my stamping from Canada instead of Pakistan/India.
Hope above info helps.
Thanks,
Shuaib Malik (at G Mail dot com)
any idea on how to find out the total number of H1 LCAs applied for 2014 till now ?
any website gives that status?
Is that how USCIS released a statement informing us the quota will get over in 5 days. Thanks
I don’t think so. Comments from USCIS states ‘on its interactions with stakeholders ..’
The DOL could be one of USCIS’s stakeholder.
I know this will be very clear in next 5 days but there is whole lot of differences on various sites about lottery this year for H1b. In case for first three days limit for H1B cap does not reached but it overwhelms on 4th day then does lottery gets applied to applications which reached on 1st April as well.
Its 01-APR
Fingers crossed
Let the day 1 begin at US timings 😉
🙂
Hi surauabh,
Iam planning to file h1b petetion in a couple of days.My question is Iam an MTech Graduate and before doing my Mtech here in India I tried to do MS in us by attending for f1 visa.I was rejected f1 visa for 3 times(i.e 4 years back).As iam working from 2 years after completion of Mtech ,iam planning for h1b this year.Should i think of my previous rejections on f1.Will these rejections effect my present h1b visa.Actually iam not able to guess why my f1 visa was rejected as the very reason I can guess is the microphone problem as Iam not able to answer to the VO properly and when i expressed the same thing ,VO went inside had set soemthing regarding that microphone and with out any question my visa was rejected for first time,With great hope i attempted next 2 times,but they reulsted in failure.
Please let me know if these past rejections on f1 will have an effect on my h1.
Thank you in advance.
Hi ,
Iam planning to file h1b petetion in a couple of days.My question is Iam an MTech Graduate and before doing my Mtech here in India I tried to do MS in us by attending for f1 visa.I was rejected f1 visa for 3 times(i.e 4 years back).As iam working from 2 years after completion of Mtech ,iam planning for h1b this year.Should i think of my previous rejections on f1.Will these rejections effect my present h1b visa.Actually iam not able to guess why my f1 visa was rejected as the very reason I can guess is the microphone problem as Iam not able to answer to the VO properly and when i expressed the same thing ,VO went inside had set soemthing regarding that microphone and with out any question my visa was rejected for first time,With great hope i attempted next 2 times,but they reulsted in failure.
Please let me know if these past rejections on f1 will have an effect on my h1.
Thank you in advance.
Hi Saurabh,
I got married in Jan 2013 this year. My husband is in US from the same company/account. The location is also the same for us. We work for the same company in India.
This body shop for which we both work, had promised to file my visa in April. Now due to some internal bull shit politics, my visa is not getting filed within first week of April. I am trying to really push hard but its all on luck now.
In worst case, if I miss the cap totally, I want to be prepared. So our plan is –
I will apply for H4 and join my husband. Post that I will start applying for jobs once I am there. I have a work exp of 4 years. Once I find a job, I will enroll into a nearby college and convert to F1. Once I have my F1, I think I can work. I have the following questions:-
1. While I apply for COS I think it takes 3-4 months to get an F1. Can I work in these 3-4 months when I have applied for COS?
2. Can a company from US apply an H1-B for me in the 65,000 cap general quota (not the MS one)? This is about April 2014. The course that I will enroll is a 2 yr MBA graduate course.
3. Please let me know the flaws in this plan. I want to know if there is some way I can make it there and stay with my husband. Also at the same time I dont want to bring a gap in my own career.
Please guide me through this.
Appreciate all the efforts that you put in to reply the queries on this blog. Thanks a lot!!
Incase if you end up not filing your H1 I would suggest you to directly come on F1 and do your Masters instead of H4 route.
As such the chances of getting H4 these days are tough and it is based on the Primary applicants nature of job (Full Time or Consulting) the decision of H4 would depend.
Getting admitted into a GRAD school will give you an opportunity to file you H1 next year and you will also have an opportunity to change your status back H4 incase if you decide not to work.
This route will save a lot of money which you can utilize in completing your Higher education in US on F1.
As far as my knowledge during the period of conversion from H4 to F1 you cannot work in addition you cannot work for first 9 months legally of you F1
Hi Mansi,
I don’t wanna be rude but you guys seems to not well prepared for the even worst case.
I can’t believe you planning to join a school to just get on to your work …
Stop using foul language !!!
Mansi,
You cannot work on an H-4 visa. On an F-1 visa, you have to be a full-time student, i.e., take the maximum number of courses as required by the university you enroll in to consider you as a full-time student. You cannot work off-campus on an F-1 visa for the first 9 months. After that, based on what course you take, you can apply for CPT or OPT and then work off-campus. You can always come to the US on an H-4 visa and then do a COS to an F-1 visa.
I don’t see any experience shared for Visa stamping. Does no one going to Visa stamping or I am looking at wrong place. Please help.
Wrong place!
Hello Saurabh,
Good day!
Please let us know the chances of lottery system on H1b visa for the fiscal year 2014.
DOes it so happen that , If the volumes increase would they opt for lottery?
how does the lottery system work. Could u please let us know in brief. Thanks!
Hello Saurabh,
I am on L1B and missed the H1B boat last year by 1 lousy day! So here is my situation:
I am on L1B visa valid till mid Septemeber 2013 from Company A . My I-94 is valid till 2016. My wife is working on EAD(L2 dependent) . Company B is ready to hire me and they are filing my H1B and H4 for my wife. Last week, Company A decided to file for my H1B as well. So they are in process of preparing application for my H1B and my wife’s H4. Meanwhile, my wife is getting her H1B filed from Company C.
Questions:
1) Is it ok if 2 companies file for my H1B? Or should I ask one company to stop the application process?
2) My wife’s H4 is being filed by 2 companies and H1B by 1 company. Is that ok?
3) What happens in Mid September 2013 when my L1B expires? My I94 is valid for 3 more years. Should I ask my company to file for L1 extension as well? Should I leave the country before my visa expires?
4) What happens on 1st October if I get H1b approved from both comapany A and B? Do I get to choose which company’s H1B I want to use?
Would appreciate a quick response because if I need to stop one of the companies from filing H1, I’ll have to tell them by tomorrow.
Kind Regards,
Aalok
Since you are in an urgency.. I can give you the info (my 2 cents) I know.. I am unsure about the L1 obligations and dependant visas on that but..
1) It is completely fine if two companies file your H1B at the same time. It is also okay to have approval for both of them.
2) No idea.
3) No idea.
4) Yes, you can choose which H1 you can use (either company A or B).
Thanks!
1) Not an issue at all. Any number of companies can file your H1-B petition but you can choose only one upon approval.
2) Same as above.
3) Visa is a travel document and I-94 is what specifies till what date you can stay in the US. You can work as long as I-94 is valid. If you travel outside the US when you I-94 is valid and visa is expired then you will have to go for re-stamping.
4) Yes, you can choose only one.
Hi,
If the 2014 H1B visa cap ends up in lottery as predicted, when will we come to know the results.
This is important to me because I have a fallback option of applying out of cap due an approved H1B notice dating back to 2007 June. For some reason my employer didn’t want to go this route and instead decided to file one under the 2014 cap and they are not planning to do premium processing either (I am currently working for them on an L2). I want to know whether I will know the lottery results in time to exercise the second option before June.
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Nayana
Couple of options..
-You can ask your employer (if it is a small company) if the check that is being sent along with the application is cashed after the lottery (may take 2-3 days).
-USCIS will send a receipt notice (if selected) via mail to your employer within 7-10 days (after the lottery).
But to know if your petition is approved or not, you will have to lookup your case number online (may take upto 3 months incase of regular processing and 15 days from premium).
Thanks!
Hello Redbus2Us,
I am on L1B visa in US since Mar,2010 and have got it extended for 2 more years till oct,2014. I am right now actively looking for H1B sponsorship to get into this year CAP. I am in talk with 2 small consulting company in this regard and one of them has informed me that they have filed LCA for me and it has been certified.They would now send my petition in Apr.
However,I do not have any update from the second one.How do i make sure that they would indeed file for me and are not just saying they would file. Is there any way I can track it besides following with them so that i do not miss the bus this year for any reason as I am skeptics about both of them.
My 2nd question is lets say they file H1b petition for me and it gets approved,Would that mean that my current L1B visa become invalid from 1st Oct and I would not be able to work for my current employer and would definitely have to join the new employer?Just in case in Oct,I find the reason that I want to stay with my current employer on L1B?
My 3rd question is If i plan for visit to my home country before H1B petition is approved by USCIS and need to go for L1B visa stamping to consulate as my current l1B visa has expired,Would it in anyway impact my L1B visa extension stamping?
Would greatly appreciate the response.
Thanks
Just interviewed for job at major US company, they need to wait a week to make a decision (Director on vacation). Let’s suppose everything goes well, and they make me an offer early next week is there enough time to still file for H1-B in case I accept it? If not, when would be the cut-off?
thank you.
Hi Saurabh,
This is my situation.
I work with a US Fortune 50 non-consulting company as their Full time permanent employee. My company has initiated GC processing. My Labor application is in process and as I understand it will be few months before my company can file for I-140. My H1-B expires in Nov’2014 (6 years completion).
Due to some personal reasons, I need to be in India for about 6-8 months. I am wondering what will be best possible option to be out of US for the said period without any negative consequences and with minimal impact. I do not know the legalities or any implications of being away from US for that long.
Could you suggest some options?
Thanks for your help!
Hi Saurabh,
I am holding valid B-1 and never have traveled US on this.
How does this B-1 help me increasing the chance of getting the H1-B visa?
Having an IT exp of 9 years, would it be still worthwhile working in US on H1-B, considering for the next 2-3 yrs?
What would be the minimum package to be expected to get the best deal wtih employer?
Thanks.
No, B1 will not guarantee or help in H1-B visa.
It should be a Personal decision, depends on individual’s capability and capacity.
Salary is based on knowledge and not on experience. Experience sometime counts but not always.
HI Saurabh,
I got a doubt while filling up DS 160 form for H1B visa interview.
I had transferred my H1B visa to a consultancy and that consultancy filed the visa for me. Currently I am working in another Telecom company in India.
Should I give this consultancy name as my current employer or current Indian company which I am working now?
I really appreciate your help.
Thanks in advance.
Arya
Hi Saurabh
Can 2 employers file for my H1B for the upcoming filing year?
Yes, any number of companies can file your H1-B petition, but upon approval you can choose only 1.
My pettion got approved for H1b and I attended interview in US consulate and they gave me white slip and requesting for addition documents from employer and still I am waiting for documnets from employer and in mean while I heard from one of my friend that this employer is in Fruad list… My friend also applied for h1b visa from same employer and US consulate informed my friend that this is fraud company and suggested my friend to withdraw his pettion else he will get life time ban.
My question if I get new employer do I need to wait till next year October to start work or once I get new employer, can transfer my existing approved pettion to new employer.. Please help me and suggest.
Hi Saurabh,
Thanks again for your replied.
couple of day back, I told my h1 sponsor A to withdraw my petition/case which is supposed be reach at USCIS on 1st April. I am going ahead with h1 sponsor B.
Now A is ready to withdraw but they are asking for 1000 USD as an attorney fee which the expense incurred to A for lawyer. Other wise they are saying they will do legal action which will affect my VISA/Travel to USA!!!
Note: I am not going with A cause they had Bond of 5000USD against H1 which I signed and sent the softcopy to them.
Please advice.
ABC
They can’t even pluck your hair. Don’t worry and go ahead with B. Labor law is very strong in the US and seeking money from the employee is a big crime.
It’s the other way around. Tell him that you will complain against him for charging fee.
Just do what you are doing.
“A” cannot do anything against you legally. Bonded labor is illegal in the US and they cannot project this case in any court or to any US authority because it is them who stand to lose. You can confidentally direct them not to file your H1B and can rather go with “B”.
Hi Saurab,
I am working for my employer on H1B visa since Oct 2011 and my contract is suppose to end on April 30 2013. Now, my company is thinking for giving me a additional one year contract with same job profile but different designation.
I have two questions,
1) Do my company need to file my H1B/LCA again?
1) By what date I should get the offer and accept it in written to avoid any refiling of H1B/LCA if needed?
Hi Saurabh,
My LCA get Certified, and i got copy from my employer,
but I dont see my name on it, so my queation is does LCA has Employee name on it ??
Hi Mayank,
How much time it took for you for LCA approval. Did the approval came online? What time did it come. Please let me know as my company applied on 26th Mar, and i am still waiting for it.
Hi Saurabh,
Does it make a difference if the petition is receive on 04/01 or 04/02?
I guess my concern is since 03/31 is sunday, my lawyer may mail out my petition on 04/01 and get it delivered on 04/02. Do I have to push him to get it delivered on 04/01?
Thanks
Hi saurabh
I am working with one usa based company my company has nominated my name for h1b thet are doing through one usa laywer, I m from non IT but did 3 years diploma and three years becholers enginnering from india and I have work experience of about 4 years is any prblm with my 3 years degree engineering instead of 4 years because I have done bachelors after my 3 years diploma.
Hi Saurabh,
I am on L1 B and working for an organization in US. My L1 B and I94 are valid till may 2014. I am applying H1 B this year through a consultant. My question is if and once I receive my approved H1 B for 1st Oct 2013, can I still work for my current employer on existing L1 B or my L1 B will become invalid once H1 b is approved ?
who is going to file your h1b? is it the company you are currently working with? if so then it is fine . you can keep on working with them.
Hi Saurabh,
I have Masters from California State in General Engineering (Engineering Management), my employer who is filing for my H1 this year states that I am not eligible for the Masters CAP because my degree is not non IT (computer science) and as I work as a Oracle Functional Analyst within the Supply Chain Management team. I have taken a few Supply Chain management courses at school and I got this job because of my academic expertise in Supply Chain, I am not an Developer or Programmer, nevertheless I am within the IT Industry.
I was hoping you could guide me to persuade my employer to file under the Master’s CAP, because they are stating that my petition is being filed under IT occupation and my degree is not related… “But it is”
Cheers
Nick
I just found: USCIS will consider the date the petition physically arrived at their office with correct fee and information, NOT the post marked date on shipping package.
is it possible to apply online ? also, do i get to choose if i want to be in the lottery system, or how does it work ?? do i apply separately for that ??
Say for example a lot of applicants use premium processing, would their application approval decision in any way affect those applying via the regular channel, even if they applied earlier than those of the premium applicants.
Hi Saurabh,
My attorney told me he can’t submit the petition until 03/31. The LCA is already approved.
Is that right?
Thanks,
Yes
Chris\N\Saurabh,
On this March 22, my Attorney filed the LCA for me. She said, my LCA would take 7 days. Do you think she will be able to apply for me on this April 1 ? Please help me.
Hi Saurabh,
I am on Student OPT right now and my employer will file H1B on 1st April 2013,
now as looks like this year USCIS will go for Lottery,
how they treat Master’s quota for lottery,
Do they have separate lottery for Masters quota or they will do it with the regular Cap
Mayank,
See this Q&A discussion.
Thank you Saurabh.
Hi Saurabh,
I have a master degree in Information Systems Management and
I am currently on my OPT working for a private company as web developer. my company is filing h1b. And i live in small area and education levels are quite low. so i was wondering what are my chances to get H1 approved. also USCIS said there is H1B random selection for this year. so i want to know what the difference if there is or not random selection
ihab,
We are already discussing in the Q&A forum.
Hi,
I would like to know, if I qualify for H1B VISA program. I have a 3 years Bachelors degree (B.Sc Computer Science) and 7.3 years of work experience in IT, India. Could you please let me know, if I still qualify for H1B VISA program?
Thanks
Chandra
Vamsi,
You may qualify by combination of your education and experience. However, you or your employer should still get the education equivalency done while filing the H-1.
Hi Saurabh,
I have a Masters degree from a reputed school in US, my OPT STEM extension from that school expired on 12/24/2012 and now I am on 40 hr CPT with another school and I am continuing on F1 status. My application did not make in time for 2013 H1B masters quota and hence I am in this situation right now. My question is, since my STEM OPT from the first Masters school has already expired, would I be still eligible to apply for H1B in the masters quota? or, do my employer need to route my packet to the general cap quota (65,000)?? Please let me know which works best, as I want to avoid any hassle this year form the lessons learnt from last year,
Thanks,
SV
SV,
Yes, you are still eligible for H-1 petition under advanced degree cap.
Hi,
I have B1 visa and client letter and I will be coming to US, I can eligible to apply H1 visa ( from B1 Ivas To H1b), Please suggest me the same .
Thanks in Advance!!!
Regards
Ram
Ram,
If the cap is open and if you are qualified for the specialized position, then H-1 can be filed by the employer. As you will be in US on B-1, USCIS may ascertain what your intent was to enter US on B-1 visa. If they determine you entered US to file H-1 w/ COS, then they may deny the H-1 and/or COS.
Hi,
I have valid h1b visa with a reputed company and i had applied visa for my kid and got it today. But since there are no onsite openings immediately, i am planning to process dependent visa for mysself and for my kid with my husbands h1b.. my husband has h1b and is in US currently.
Now will there be a problem if i apply for h4 visa for my kid (with my husband’s employer) within a week of getting h4 for her from my employer?
Also my husband was in new jersey till february 28th and from march onwards he is in minneapolis, and has LCA processed , now while going for the visa interview should i be taking payslips from both new jersey and minneapolis locations (in case if it is generated?) or can i show the lca for minneapolis and payslips for new jersey (if his payslips are not generated by the time i go for interview). Please let me know as how i can proceed.
Also can I apply h1b for 2013 in cap exempt?
Thanks
Sathya,
See my response to your other post on this.
Hi Saurabh,
As my h1b visa is still valid with a reputed MNC, should I carry NOC or any addiditonal documents(Proof of Leave) while going for H4 visa, as I am not going to resign and only taking a break and tell them the same. Also what would be the status of my H1B once they issue the H4.
Thanks
Sathya,
Yes, it is ok not to carry NOC or additional documents. You may be asked about your plans in US (which should be not to work in US).
Your H-1 will remain kind of dormant. You can move to H-1 status either by filing COS from H-4 to H-1 through this employer or a different one.
Hi Saurabh
Thanks for your kindly help.
I got my H4 Visa and will be travelling to US on April 2nd week. How soon can I apply for COS after reaching US ? Or should I apply for a new H1B under cap exempt, which option has more possibility of getting approved. Also how long does it take to get approval (both for COS and H1B under cap exempt). Kindly let me know the details
HI,
My company has nominated me for applying H1B this year and it is in process currently.
However because of some urgent project work I have to travel to Australia and will be there from May 2013 till Oct 2013. Will it impact my H1 B Visa processing?
At what stage my presence would be required in India?
Thanks in advance for your response.
Rgds,
Kumar
Kumar,
You are not required to be present in India during the H-1 processing. Once the petition has been approved you will have to appear for H-1 visa stamping (usually in your home country). At that point you will have to return to India for H-1 stamping, or you can check w/ US consulate in Australia if you can attend the stamping there.
Hi,
I am currently on l1b visa which is valid till aug mid this year. My company is filing the extension in one months time and I have to go for stamping. I got a sponsor who will apply H1 this year for me. Will there be any issue if both gets filed around same time ? If I get my H1 approved before my L1 extension , will there be any issue with that? Please reply
Thanks
Mathew,
It is ok for both of them to be filed around the same time. When are you planning to leave US for L-1 visa stamping? If you leave US while H-1 is still under process, then COS from L-1 to H-1 will be abandoned. Your H-1 may still get approved but it will not come w/ an I-94 attached (meaning your status will remain L-1 in US).
You are getting into what’s called Last Action Rule. Search more about it online or discuss w/ your H-1 attorney about the various scenarios.
Saurabh,
I am planning to go for stamping around june/july. Is there any point/level available on H1 where its safe to travel for extension.
Thanks,
Mathew
Hi Saurabh – Employer A will file my H1-B this April. I am currently in the UK.’ A’ say they will mention the Hyderabad consulate in my petition as the place where i will go for my visa stamping, if the petition is approved. My question is –
If i am still in the UK this October, can i have my visa stamped in London (or some other place within UK) even though Hyderabad is mentioned in my petition?
Thanks in advance.
Kashyap,
This has been responded in the Q&A blog.
Hi Saurabh,
My H1B petition of 2013 quota approved on March 7, 2013. Surprisingly, it is approved with end date of May 31, 2013.
Can I file extension without going to US or should i mandatorily land in US before May 31, 2013 to file extension? I appreciate any of your response.
Thanks,
AJ
AJ,
The employer can file for extension even before you travel to US.
Thanks a lot Saurabh for your reply
Hi I am on CPT currently, my OPT expired on Feb 17, 2013(OPT was after complating bachelor’s), I am in school currently persuing Marters in engeneering management and also working full time. Can my employer file H-1B on CPT. what are the chances of getting it approved?
NJ,
The employer can file H-1 while you are on F-1 visa status and working parttime on CPT. As long as you are maintaining legal status in US, your CPT work should not impact the outcome of H-1 processing.