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H1B Visa 2019 – Lottery Predictions ? Fee, Quota, News & FAQs

We will look at the some of the common FAQs that are tied to H1B work visa for fiscal year 2019.  This article will be updated with latest info as we get more info.

  • H1B 2019 Season Start Date ?
  • H1B Visa 2019 Quota ?
  • Will there be lottery for H1B 2019 ?
  • H1B 2019 Lottery date ?
  • How to find H1B 2019 Sponsors ?
  • H1B visa 2019 fees ?
  • H1B 2019 Latest News

Update  : H1B 2019, 2020 Seasons are over, H1B 2021 Season is the upcoming season. Read all details at H1B Visa 2021 – Start Date, Fee, Lottery, Registration – FAQs 

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What is the H1B Visa 2019 season start date ?
Update : USCIS will start accepting H1B Petitions starting from April 2nd, 2018 as per their official update on their website. In general, USCIS starts accepting applications for the next fiscal year exactly 6 months before the start of the next fiscal year. USCIS fiscal year for 2019 starts from 1st October 2018, which means they should accept applications for FY 2019 from April 1st, 2018. As April 1st is a Sunday, USCIS should accept applications for H1B 2019 season from April 2nd, 2019.

What is H1B visa 2019 Quota for Regular and Masters filings ?
As of the date of writing of article, the H1B quota is as below. This is also called the H1B Visa Cap. You can read more at What is H1B Cap ? Regular vs Masters quota ?

  • H1B Regular Quota : 65,000 visas
  • H1B Master’s Quota : 20,000 visas. ( only US Masters eligible)

Also, of the overall 85,000 visa cap, every year 6,800 visas are set aside for the citizens of Singapore and Chile as part of the Free Trade Agreement with them. There were few bills part of Comprehensive Immigration Reform that are not active in Senate that were proposed from Obama administration days to change the cap count to 110,000 and Masters to 25,000, including potential to make H1B cap extend up to 180,000. But nothing has moved and all are dormant. Nothing new has been proposed by the new Trump Administration regarding changing cap count. To get a glimpse of historical cap count changes, you may check H1B visa cap count history from 1990 to 2017

Will there be Lottery for H1B 2019 season ? Lottery Predictions ? Filing Numbers ?
Update : USCIS had lottery for FY 2019 quota and received 190,098 petitions.
Looking at the historical trend of H1B filings, cap reach dates, it is quite possible that we would have lottery for FY 2019 quota.  We have written a detail article looking at historical data, Trump administration new policies like ‘Buy American, Hire American’, students on OPT, H4 EAD removal rule, etc. factors. To know the prediction numbers and details, read the article:  H1B Visa 2019 Lottery Predictions – Analysis, Graphs .

When is H1B Visa 2019 Lottery Date ? 
Update : USCIS Conducted Lottery for FY 2019 on April 11, 2018.
There are two things, one is when the H1B petitions are accepted for the lottery and second is when the actual lottery is done. H1B visa petitions for next fiscal year would be accepted by USCIS from April 2nd, 2018 for 5 working days until April 6th, 2018 to be part of the lottery. Now, the actual lottery date depends on various factors depending the volume of petitions and USCIS load. It can be anywhere in second week of April. For FY 2018, the actual H1B Lottery was done on April 11th, 2017 . We can expect anywhere around the same date like April 11th or April 13th.

How to find H1B visa 2019 Sponsors ? 
It can be very hard to find a good employer and convince them to sponsor H1B to work in US with major unknown like H1B Visa lottery. Anyways, you would be in one of the three scenarios, if you are seeking a H1B Sponsor. 

  • F1 Student in US : You can find an internship or co-op at an employer who can sponsor H1B visa and ask them to sponsor your H1B. You can continue to work on OPT once you graduate as well. You find the list of H1B Sponsoring companies using the tool
  • International Professionals  : If you are outside of US, it can be tricky with all the latest rules by Trump administration. Your best bet is to find an multi-national company ( MNC) and work through them to sponsor H1B visa. You may have hurdles inside the company with all the internal process, many waiting, etc. But, it is up to you to negotiate and ask them to take a chance. Many try the IT body shop route, where they ask them to file H1B. Rules have changed in the last few years and it is very risky move and can jeopardize your US hopes. Read comments on this H1B Companies Reviews article  to get an idea and  beware of such consulting companies to avoid fraud.
  • Important Note : We, as RedBu2US, DO NOT Provide any H1B sponsorship or guide anyone using professional services or fee. If anyone approaches you by saying our name, it is pure FRAUD…beware !

If you are looking for more details, check out Guide on How to Find H1B Visa Sponsors 2019

What is H1B 2019 Filing Fee ? 
H1B visa petition filing involves USCIS fee towards certain things and attorney fees, which varies by company size, and attorney involved for the case.  As of FY 2018 season, it can range anywhere from $1,600 USD to $7,400 USD + Attorney Fee.  In year 2016, for FY 2018, the H1B base filing fees, increased from  $325 to $460. Below table is a high level summary from FY 2018 quota as of writing, it maybe subject to change as we approach towards the filing date.  If any changes, we will update this accordingly.    Also, you can Read Summary of H1B Filing Fee – Who pays for What ? .

H1B Fee – Paid Towards Amount in USD
 Base filing fee $460
AICWA Fee $750  or $1,500
Fraud prevent & detection fee $500
Fee based on Public Law 114-113 ( if applicable) $4000
Premium processing fee (Optional) $1,225
Immigration Attorney Fee Varies from $500 to $3000

H1B 2019 Case Tracker  :
Did you work with attorney and sent all documents to apply for FY 2019 ?  It is quite hard for applicants to know the general status of everyone to understand their situation. We have put together a tracker along with good graphs for analysis. It is completely anonymous as we do not capture your case number or any personal information. It is community contributed data, the more you add, the better for everyone, including  You !

What’s the latest news on H1B Visa 2019 ?
Below are some of the major news updates on H1B 2019 season. You can check H1B Visa 2019 Cap Count Tracker – Latest News Updates for full details

You can bookmark this page and check this page for updates on H1B FY 2019 season.
Do you have any questions on next H1B 2019 season ?

Photo of author
Satheesh Kumar Ilu, commonly known as Kumar, is the founder of RedBus2US.com. He is an Immigration and Study Abroad expert. He holds an MS from the University of Houston–Clear Lake and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. He studied, lived, and worked in the U.S. and Singapore for nearly two decades, and has traveled to over 25 countries.

   

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8,787 Comments

  1. To everyone here:

    Feel free to troll me, but BeStrong and other people and I did our best to compile and analyze publicly available information. At no point did we claim any guarantee of accuracy to our prediction.

    If you look at our final prediction:

    2019—-> 260,000————————->253,680——————–> 513,680——–> 177854 (Model 1) —> 177450 (Model 2)

    The error is 12,246, which is 2,246 higher than ImmigrationGirl’s prediction.

    Of course you can say that we did a bunch of work for nothing, since even the best of our prediction (177,854) is worse than ImmigrationGirl’s (180,000).

    At least we have published our methodology and process, so people from next year have something to refer to if they want to do the prediction again.

    From the very beginning, this has been merely a game of chance. We did our analysis mainly to ease our minds, and we shared our process with everyone in the process.

    Best of luck to all genuine applicants.

    Reply
    • All of you guys did a very good job with math and very logical analysis with real numbers…That’s not much of a deviation from actuals. No one should troll your good work !
      Good job guys !

      Reply
    • Thank you everyone who did the analysis. It really did help put my mind at ease while I waited and I’m sure many others as well. As Kumar mentioned, the deviation was minor.

      Reply
    • Dude, what are you talking about?? You guys did an awesome job with all the available datapoints. In the end it’s all about analyzing the data, and coming up with the estimates.
      Cheer up buddy!

      Reply
    • Thanks LCA, BeStrong and everyone who built a logical discussion on this forum. I am a third timer myself and understand the anxiety to know the stuff on this freaking H1 process. I wish you guys get selected this year, If not, I am sure you will be good wherever you go next.

      All the best.

      Reply
    • Dear LCA,
      everyone here should appreciate your all the hard work . Peoples who are trolling you should at least explain if any of them even understood how calculations are done .

      This like peopels who do not even qualify to appear for a exam are blaming for scores of passing student .

      Please keep up your all the good work .

      Thanks,

      Reply
    • jesus christ. Calm down. You just wasted your hours on predictive analytics towards something that would have been revealed in 2 weeks. That’s the only casualty.

      Reply
      • Everyone has different definitions of waste. For example, you might think your comment here is a good use of your time but others might think it is a total waste. So it is not up to you to determine what is waste for whom except for yourself.

        Reply
    • Oh I have said this for sometime already that LCA calculation is a joke. For last few years i have seen these calculations and they are always way off.

      Also deviation may be small (if you can call 12k plus small) only because the range was huge. All of you superheros (bestrong, fran, lca etc) were giving a range from 130k to 180k. you would have been still in the same ballpark if you had guessed a number in your dream instead of wasting so much time on a useless calculation.

      superheros should get a better hobby.

      Reply
      • The analysis was actually what came in dreams. They were simply putting on paper what they had already dreamt about. Surprised you didn’t know that when you “wasted” so much time reading their calculations and commenting about it as well.

        Reply
  2. I believe this is how the odds work out (assuming that USCIS picks additional 5k for AD and 10k for Regular to account for rejections and ~5k spots are applied by beneficiaries from Singapore & Chile):

    AD chance = 1 – [(96-25)/96 * (190-25-5-70)/(190-25-5)] = 58%
    Non-AD chance = (75-5)/(190-25-5) = 44%

    Reply
  3. Gayathri,

    Thanks for mentioning my name in one of your posts.

    My employer is a major tech company in the Bay Area. My manager told me today that if I don’t get the h1b I’ll be going to London for an year and then back to the US on an L1.

    After I get my h1b or L1 my employer will begin the green card process. Because I’m European I don’t have a waiting list so I can get my green card one year after the process begins.

    Regardless of what happens I will get my green card in 1 or 2 years.

    In your case, even if you have or h1b approved (unlikely), you’ll need to ask your employer to begin the green card process (unlikely) and even then you’ll be on a waiting list for decades and decades…

    Gayathri, don’t mess with me. I can be very cruel. And I always, always win!

    Oh it’s good to be European. Long live Europe!!

    Reply
  4. Random Selection Process Go to hell.. sixth time.. with high experience .. STFU in US.. bye bye.. no way.. fk up this time toooo ..tk gd i didn’t invest anything..bye bye for ever until i join as opt in US

    Reply
  5. Stats for everyone wondering, AD folks:

    Under assumption of 20k AD, 65k Non-AD: 51.10%
    Under assumption of 25k AD, 75K Non-AD: 59.66%

    The larger second number if based on the post from Emily about taking additional folks to replace likely rejections.

    I sincerely hope AD is not flooded with applications of people with non-US Masters that don’t understand what the Masters cap is…

    Reply
  6. First time in USCIS history, they have announced a total number of filling in regular and master.

    Cap Type Cap Amount Cap Eligible Petitions Date of Last Count

    H-1B Regular Cap 65,000 94,213 April 6, 2018

    H-1B Master’s Exemption 20,000 95,885 April 6, 2018

    Reply
  7. I dont know BeStrong, LCA personally but there is no reason for trolling them. They did calculations based on available public information, tried their best to predict the number and were wrong, big deal. Atleast this helps us understand that there are larger loopholes and H1b is bigger mess than we think.
    190K is definitely not the number anybody on this forum was hoping for … lets see who are the unlucky 105K this time !!
    I might start listing my stuff on ebay and Craigslist if anybody is interested 😀

    All the best everyone!!

    Reply
    • I guess the super smart fame consultancy people on here don’t understand that it’s “predictions” not “fortune telling”. God save them.

      Reply
    • There are few interesting things to note, in particular, the release of the number of petitions in their respective categories. The fact that there are more petitions in H1B master’s cap points to the fact that there is indeed a dearth of H1B visas. Additionally, out of the bachelor’s cap, there would be about 10-20k students educated in the US that are already here. This brings the number to about 110-120k who are probably not the “cheap” labor.

      Some had already guessed the number of petitions for master’s cap (I recall around 80-85k) which was pretty close.

      It would be really interesting to see what policy changes come in future, these numbers should definitely start a debate and hopefully bring the immigration reform bills, such as the one sponsered by Orrin Hatch and Jeff Flake , for vote in the house.

      Reply
  8. Based on number of LCAs filed for 2020, I predict no lottery for 2020.

    LCA filed so far for 2020 is 0.

    So, BeStrong like me guys.

    Reply
  9. Cap Type ->Cap Amount-> Cap Eligible Petitions-> Date of Last Count

    H-1B Regular Cap->65,000-> 94,213 ->April 6, 2018

    H-1B Master’s Exemption-> 20,000-> 95,885 -> April 6, 2018

    Reply
    • Do you really believe that USCIS will aprove your petitions? Even if they get picked??

      Fraudulent consultancies don’t stand a chance after the HireAmericanBuyAmerican bill….

      Are you really this stupid??

      Reply
    • Really!! you have no worries? And Hoping all the 3 petitions will get picked up? Happily Celebrating that someone predicted wrong shows what kind of a girl you’re! Well, did anyone asked you believe what we said? I accept I said 160K-170K from the very start even rahul reddy thought it will be 160K. So what every body predicts most of them are bound to be wrong. Do you have any issues with your reasoning to filter our what you like and not to absorb what you do not? All the best!

      Reply
    • Can you please be quiet ? Who has approved you visa or even a job and LCA. Stay polite and don’t beat your own drum. If you are lucky you will get it doesn’t matter being male or female here. Good luck.

      Reply
  10. Those filed from consultancies will anyways be rejected even if get thru lottery.. it is sad these guys show no mercy and try to take up spots meant for genuine candidates.

    Reply
  11. Cap Eligible Petitions
    H-1B Regular Cap -> 94,213
    H-1B Master’s Exemption -> 95,885

    https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/h-1b-specialty-occupations-and-fashion-models/h-1b-fiscal-year-fy-2019-cap-season

    Reply
  12. seriously Guys nothing will effect our Indians in filing H1Bs
    No major drop in count this year too

    Whatever may be the changes in h1 policies,we don’t step down on filing

    God Save US!!!

    Reply
  13. Congratulations to me… I know its gonna get approved the moment officer starts looking in to the file. (i have been positive and wan to be in the same stance until I get the good news.)

    https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/mycasestatus.do

    Best of luck guys….

    Reply
  14. I have started looking for good deals for booking flight tickets back to India. Any analyser here to say which date is ideal for getting a cheap air ticket between 6/1 5 & 8/14? Suggestions from @BeStrong @LCS @Sam or @Franc is required. Or are we gonna create a slack group for this?

    Reply
  15. Case Was Received and A Receipt Notice Was Emailed
    On April 11, 2018, we received your Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, Receipt Number EAC1813351605, and mailed you a receipt notice. It is being processed at our Vermont Service Center location. The notice describes how we will process your case. Please follow the instructions in the notice. If you move, go to www.uscis.gov/addresschange to give us your new mailing address.

    Reply
  16. 1. Are the AD applications also part of 190,098?
    2. So our chances would be from 65000 out of (190,098 – 20000) = 170098?
    is that how it works?

    65000 / 170098 = 38% chances of getting selected and 62% of not getting selected? Oh My God

    Reply
  17. 190,098

    So there is no impact on what so ever policy changes that Trump is gonna bring.. H1B is still shining strong option for Indians especially

    Reply
  18. Lottery was completed only on 11th of April. And these people were giving receipt numbers dated April 10th. I kept saying the slack link guys are useless. And according to their analysis, there would 130k or 150k applicants. Its actually 190k. Lol. Is there atleast one thing which the Slack group predicted was right? Emily kept saying it would be just 5-10% less than last year. It turned out to be correct. Emily is a sheer genius. Everything she says happens. And still u guys never gonna believe. Keep believing the slack group guys. And I dont think the multiple applicants were taken out before lottery. I am a last timer too.

    Reply
  19. ehttps://join.slack.com/t/h1b2019/shared_invite/enQtMzQxNDg0NDMzNjU0LWI0MTViZGEzNDZiZGMzMTBiNmYxMWNkMzQ0YTQ4YTI3NTdjOTZiMjFkNDExZTdmYmQ0YmU2ZTVkOWRiMjg1ODI

    Reply
  20. Hey guys. I guess the number of petitions this year would be anywhere between 130k to 210k. I dont think it will be anything less than this or more than this. Any thoughts on this?

    Reply
  21. Please Add – Slack Group
    @BeStrong

    This link is not working for me. Please add my email – purplepatch19@gmail.com

    Reply
  22. April 12, 2018 Tools Outage
    USCIS will conduct system maintenance on Thursday, April 12, 2018, from 9 p.m. until midnight (Eastern).

    Reply
  23. Any news already?! This waiting is getting annoying. What is USCIS doing?

    USCIS need to work faster to approve at least one of the 3 AD petitions I paid for. I paid for them like I pay my own bills

    Reply
  24. Any news on h1b boys? I meant the delivery boys like USCIS-Insider, outsider,Sumedha Ramasutra, Tiger bhai, jep beejas.. are you ok boys? tired? get refreshed responding to my comment.

    Reply
    • Yeah…Looks like USCIS has completed the lottery and started the data entry process…Hopefully USCIS might release total petition numbers sometime this week. This was inferred after one of the guys ran a batch cluster program and found close to 4000 new cases were added yesterday. Here’s an example receipt : EAC1813351601

      P.S: I am not a troll nor trying to spread fake news.

      Good luck everyone.

      Reply
      • its was just 2500 at EAC not much at WAC. Checking today morning still running i dont see any significant increase in WAC. Still it is not 100% to confirm lottery.
        PS. You troll or not troll we keep ourselves up to date.

        Reply
        • 2500 EAC new cases at a particular processing center around the time when lottery is speculated to happen doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me.

          P.S : This iformation is for people who haven’t kept themselves updated

          Reply
          • lalit modi, nirav modi, narendra modi., all of you are upto a cause, zilla zilla billa gulla.

      • How did you get this number? Is it your employer or attorney shared with you? If employer and attorney then I will also ask them to share my petition number. Please advice. ?

        Reply
        • Nope we did not get any update from attorney…..It was just one of the guys on slack group ran a batch program and found this one out….He was not able to find much for WAC centres though….There is a high chance lottery seems to be done….USCIS might have started cashing cheques from yesterday

          Reply
          • Don’t believe the guys in the slack group. They are living in the fools world. They do all useless analyses and evrything would turn out to be crap. These receipt numbers say they were received on 10th of April. I am sure they would never say Received on 10th of April. I have seen my friend’s status last year. It said Received on 3rd of April.

          • Don’t believe what “Harishchandra became Ravichandra” says. I am the friend he is talking about. My receipt said “received on April 11th”.

            On a side note.
            Hey Ravichandra, where is the $3000 you owe me? You said you have to get your third nipple removed and I lent it to you for that. Liar and cheater.

          • Lottery was completed only on 11th of April. And these people were giving receipt numbers dated April 10th. I kept saying the slack link guys are useless. And according to their analysis, there would 130k or 150k applicants. Its actually 190k. Lol. And u guys call me a Loser? Get a job guys.

          • Hey you, the guy with three nipples, 1 ball and half an ass. Shut up. I am ashamed to call you my friend.

            Didn’t you read disclaimers that the analysis was just to find solace during the waiting period? You are behaving as if people know all answers, otherwise should shut up.

      • I dont think EAC1813351601 is a lottery case since the very next number EAC1813351602 says “case received and receipt emailed” which can happen only in the case of premium processing which is currently not available for CAP cases.

        Reply
    • why are you asking boys.
      YOu should ask me i am emily on this forum sponsored by Gayatri and filed 4 H1_b.
      So much hatred towards me all are fakes here .

      Reply
      • Jumpaka Jumpaka jumma you’re like “Sunny” in these rainy days. Hope you become “Stormy” sooner or later.

        Reply
  25. Anyone filed from Wipro ? Heard they filed LCA but cut back on H1b filings based on current situation.

    Can any Wipro person confirm this ? Have you or anyone else from Wipro heard from attorney about lottery receipts ?

    Reply
  26. While an H-1B petition may be approved for up to three years, USCIS will, in its discretion, generally limit the approval period to the time that the beneficiary will be employed in a qualifying position. Read our memo to find out more:

    See USCIS twitter handle

    Reply
  27. Why did you have to pay for your H1B? Are not your employer supposed to pay for them? Or is your female brain not qualified enough to be sponsored in legal way?

    Reply
  28. I was super frightened 25 days back since my STEM ends by May mid. Looking at all the LCA analyses, I just got even more scared. But now, I am just laughing my heads off looking at all these comments. I dunno if it is a single person commenting under all different names. But THANK YOU all for reducing my anxiousness. Special Thanks to Gayathri, USCIS_Insider, Outsider, FedEx UPS trucks, Mallya, Nirav Modi, DKBose & Tiger Zinda Hai. My most favorite comments:

    “USCIS Outsider: Ya it’s true.
    USCIS Insider: I am holding the door come in.
    USCIS Outsider: No I m a non-immigrant”

    “The entire Convo between Tiger Zinda Hai, Insightful, Gayathri, Indian Court & DKBose”

    I am not even anxious now guys. Thank you to all. Keep rocking.

    P.S: If its a single person making all these comments, u have such a great humor sense. Your wife is so lucky.

    Reply
  29. Guys

    Came to know from my friend that his cheque got enchased today(employer informed)

    Tension started for me
    Fingers crossed!!!

    Believe me I am not joking

    Reply
  30. Everyone please stop posting fake news and stuff about the Mariana Islands! Only real stuff about H-1B!

    Really tired of this male dominated world. No wonder I had to paid for 3 tickets, good way to screw some legit male candidats

    Reply

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