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Official News : USCIS H1B 2016: 233,000 Petitions received, Lottery Completed

As many of you know that H1B Visa 2016 cap was reached on April 7th, 2015 and we all have been waiting for the H1B Lottery information and how many petitions were received. USCIS released a press note earlier today indicating the details of lottery and total number of petitions received.

Summary of the Official Press Release on H1B 2016 Cap and Lottery Completion:

  • USCIS received a whopping 233,000 petitions for H1B Visa FY 2016 quota during the filing period, which is from April 1st to April 7th, 2015. Based on our previous research data from USCIS, this is the highest number of petitions ever filed at USCIS for H1B quota. The previous highest was filed in 2001, when the H1B quota was 195,000 and the overall H1-B petitions filed were about 201,543. Check out History of H1B’s filed with USCIS by Year from 2000. Also, read H1B max quota caps by year since 1990
  • USCIS received more than 20,000 H1B petitions for US Masters’ degree quota. They did not indicate on the breakdown of petitions received for Masters and Regular quota, they just indicated that overall petitions received for the fiscal year 2016 were about 233,000.
  • H1B 2016 Lottery Process, Info :
    • On April 13th, 2015 USCIS conducted Computer Generated Random Selection process aka H1B Lottery to select the required number of H1B petitions for FY 2016 quota of 65,000 for general quota and 20,000 for US Advanced degree quota.
    • First, a lottery was conducted for the US Master’s degree quota applications to select 20,000 petitions and then the petitions that were not selected in this this first round were added to general quota pool and lottery was conducted on this pool to select the overall 65,000 petitions for general quota. This is pretty standard over the years. Read H1B Lottery Selection Process, How does it work.
    • USCIS mentioned that they will reject and return all the petitions that were not selected in the lottery, along with the filing fee, unless the petition filed was duplicate. USCIS mentioned guidance on duplicate petitions that a same employer cannot file multiple or duplicate petitions for the same candidate for the same role or related roles to increase their lottery chances.
  • H1B 2016 Premium Processing Info :
    • As mentioned earlier, the premium processing for H1B 2016 petitions will start no later than May 11th, 2015. It means that the 15 days clock of premium processing starts from May 11th, 2015. You may start to receive receipt numbers for your case earlier than May 11th, but USCIS is setting the date as May 11th for official SLA purposes.
    • Last year this date for premium processing was no later than April 28th, but this year it is moved to May 11th, to cater to the large number of petitions.
  • H1B Cap exempt petitions to be accepted all year long.
    • Only FY 2016 quota is complete. As always, all the H1B cap exempt petitions will be accepted all year long, which falls under the below category
      • Previously H1B cap counted Applications
      • H1B extensions
      • Changes in H1B employment contracts
      • H1B Transfers
      • Concurrent working second H1B petitions

H1B Lottery Selection Results – Our Predictions

As per our H1B 2016 Predictions and Analysis, we expected a lottery and about 170k to 200k petitions…Due to the high demand and upswing in the US economy and technical workers demand in market, there were much more petitions received than anticipated by us.  We deviated about 15% from our actual predictions…

It is going to be a very long wait for many of the H1B applicants waiting for their case info… I know, with my previous years’ experience that it will be very long and painful…just stay calm and discuss sensibly in the blog comments, do NOT get into anything that hurts others or hate speech against race, country, religion, etc. Let’s keep the forum friendly for everyone and help each other in tough waiting period.   I suggest you add your H1B case to our H1B Case Tracker and keep it up to date, so that everyone get some high level info and take necessary action as needed.

What are your thoughts on this FY 2016 quota ?

Official USCIS Tweet on this with press release

   

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730 Comments

  1. Hi All

    I applied through some external consultancy , I checked with my employer about result , They said they didn’t receive any update yet on My file .and asked to wait …

    Till what date i can wait ? This is really killing me …

    Reply
  2. I got this email a few weeks back:

    “”The California Service Center has received the following
    I-129 Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker
    that had been filed under the Premium Processing Program:

    Receipt Number: WACxxxxxxxx
    Date Received: 04/13/2015
    Petitioner: xxx

    Beneficiary: xxx
    DOB: xxx
    Classification sought: H1B

    The Form I-797 Receipt Notice will follow in the mail.

    The California Service Center will adjudicate this case within
    15 calendar days of the “received date” set forth above.
    If approved, you will receive e-mail notification of such.
    If we require additional evidence, we will fax said request
    to the fax number provided on your completed I-907 Request
    for Premium Processing Form.””

    Does this mean I got it or not? I haven’t heard from them in the 15 calendar days…

    Reply
  3. Hi,

    I got the ref number from my employer and the status in USCIS shows below. “On April 13, 2015, we received your Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant worker, Receipt Number EAC1514354477, and sent you the receipt notice that describes how we will process your case. Pls follow the instructions in the notice. If you don’t receive your receipt notice by May 13, 2014, Pls call customer service.

    WHat does it mean. It got selected in Lottery or rejected or its just a ref number that everyone will get ?

    Reply
  4. My status for RP says as sent file for petition.. Are there still chances? For few of my frnds the status shows ad acknowledgement received,what does tht mean?

    Reply
  5. USCIS has informed that data entry of lottery is done. Does it mean all the selected entry cheques are en-cashed by now or there is still time to encash cheques of selected entry. I presume this week final bell will ring by week end. Please suggest ……

    Reply
    • You can not say about checks. As they could be en cashed in this week. Bank takes 1-2 days mostly.. But this means they won’t be creating any new receipts now.

      Reply
  6. Hi , I checked with my Employer today, they says they are still waiting for my app to be picked. is it mean process still going on or I should leave the hope, Could some one tell me. Thank you.

    Reply
  7. I am from IBM, I got receipt number like this EAC1514*** today, what does this mean?
    Please suggest , tension mounting.

    Reply
  8. is there anyone who put file in non AD/PP/Vermont got receipt?
    till how long i have to wait for my lottery selection?

    Reply
  9. Got subscribed status mail from USCIS that data entry for 2016 H1B is complete and USCIS will now start returning packets for those not selected: ( Hopes gone.

    Reply
    • How do u know that fdfu hasn’t received any update for your case? Have you contacted them directly, if so pls tell us how to approch them as I know they won’t entertain individual requests and send the final list to only managers/PMO’s starting only from June 1st week,though they receive updates from uscis before may 10th.

      Reply
  10. Guys,

    Any news from HCL ISG? has anyone received the receipt No’s or confirmation apart from Filing information.

    Reply
  11. Hello,
    My colleague has got email communication reagrding selection in lottry . please let me know how long it will take to intimate us either getting selected or not.

    Thanks ..

    Reply
  12. Hi All,

    What do you mean by the status opened and closed in INSZOOM, does closed means that the application is not picked in lottery and opened means vice-versa ?

    Reply
  13. Hi all,
    I received a mail where a number is starting with WAS and it says we acknowledge your case. Does this mean I’ve been selected in lottery?

    Reply
  14. My case is filed for Regular Process in California center. Many of my colleagues got Receipt no starting with EAC or VT center filed at same time. I didn’t receive anything. Is it the end of line or I should wait
    ?

    Reply
  15. My status says ‘ case was received’ with some receipt number starting with WAC**”””””….does this mean my petition got through lottery?

    Reply
  16. CTS guys- Even my colleagues in chennai CTS got results. but it seems that PG graduates will receive first. UG ppl didnt receive yet..any1 here are PG graduate but still didnt receive???

    Reply
  17. “As mentioned earlier, the premium processing for H1B 2016 petitions will start no later than May 11th, 2015. It means that the 15 days clock of premium processing starts from May 11th, 2015. You may start to receive receipt numbers for your case earlier than May 11th, but USCIS is setting the date as May 11th for official SLA purposes”

    Doesn’t this mean that people with PP still have hope till 11thMay???

    Reply
  18. Hello All,
    It gives me immense pleasure to share with you all that my H1B petition (under RQ / RP / FY 2016) got picked up in lottery. The sponsor’er company got the confirmation from USCIS with WAC number yesterday (receipt number still to be shared with me, for now it’s a verbal confirmation)
    May 1st turns out to be the luckiest day for me and I pray to god that every single person on this forum too gets through.

    Each one of you who have applied under RQ / RP category can expect to hear confirmation soon.
    One again all the very best !!

    Reply
  19. Just to confirm, if we receive a receipt #, does it mean we were selected in the lottery? I just received mine – Non AD/ Non PP – California.
    Thank you!

    Reply
  20. Hi all,

    Is there still a chance to get RP/AD/VT receipt after all your co-workers have already got their receipts by now? Will USCIS mail the receipts at different times?like different week. Thank you.

    Reply
  21. Any update on Non-AD / RP/ CSC ? Has anyone got it yet ? How
    long should I wait before calling it off ? This is my 4th
    attempt and the wait is killing me !!

    Reply
  22. What does “change of status petition is still pending with the USCIS” mean? Is my H1 picked or Am I still waiting to know the decision(if picked or not)?

    Reply
  23. I just got a call from my consultancy HR that my application is picked up in lottery. She was equally excited too. She didn’t share my petetion number yet, mine is regular and nonad quota. I am so happyyy… All the best to you all..

    Reply
  24. In 3rd attempt, my H1B petition picked up in lottery.
    In last 2 years, I didn’t get selected in lottery.
    Just cheque encashed. Didn’t get Receipt number.
    Filed under RQ / RP.

    Reply
      • Hi, I got my ref number today. But how to check if it got selected or not. The status says”We received your Form I-129, petition for a non-immigrant worker, Receipt number xxxxxxxxx, and sent you the receipt notice that describes how we will process your case. Does it mean, I got selected in lottery ?

        Reply
  25. Thanks a lot for sharing this with all of us you actually
    understand what you are talking about! Bookmarked. Kindly additionally seek
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    Reply
  26. Hi Folks,

    I have received the receipt today,

    may i know the Visa process after completing the lottery process.

    Thanks in Advance.

    Best Regards,
    Srirama

    Reply
    • Hi Srirama,

      Can you please tell me from which company u have applied, and is yours regular or premium. Also please tell us how you got the receipt number. I am from TCS and they are not giving receipt numbers for us.

      Reply
      • Hi Sam,

        I am also from TCS.. If not giving receipt number are they telling that petition got selected in lottery.?
        What’s your Status in VTS tool?

        Reply
        • Hi akmrs123,

          As of today there is no information on the lottery results.
          My VTS shows “Petition filed”. Did you hear anything reg the lottery results announcement? Please let me know.

          Reply
          • Hi,
            My VTS status is also same. No news regarding lottery selection/rejection.. Let’s hope we’ll get some news soon. Keep it posted if you hear anything.

  27. Aw, this was a really nice post. Taking a few
    minutes and actual effort to generate a great article… but what can I
    say… I put things off a lot and don’t seem to get anything done.

    Reply
  28. HI
    Cognizant has start sending the receipts of H1B Regular processing.
    One of my colleague from Chennai project has got the receipt today.
    Can anyone confirm whether they have started receiving the receipts?

    Reply
  29. Can anyone define the RP and PP process. Because i dont know about it certainly and still i dint got any receipt in that case mine is not selected. please do provide some clear cut view on it

    IS there anyone from Tringapps INC

    Reply

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