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USCIS : 172,500 Petitions received for H1B 2015 Lottery. Selection Complete !

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As you know, USCIS announced on April 7th that they received enough number of petitions for filling the H1B Visa statutory cap for the fiscal year 2015. Also, they indicated that there were more petitions received and there would be lottery/ random selection process for the same. Today USCIS did an official press release stating the count of petitions received and process used. The below article focuses on the same.

Summary of USCIS Press Release : 172,500 Petitions Received

  • USCIS received about 172,500 petitions towards the H1B Visa 2015 Cap.  They received more than 20,000 petitions filed towards the Masters quota cap.
  • Computer generated random selection/ Lottery was conducted by USCIS on the total H1B petitions received until April 7th.
  • Lottery/ Random Selection Process :
    • Computer Generated Random Selection process was used to execute lottery.( No need to worry about human process that can raise doubts )
    • USCIS conducted lottery for Advanced Degree/ Masters degree quota petitions and selected 20,000 from them towards the Masters degree cap completion.
    • The H1B petitions that were filed under master’s quota cap, but not selected in the first round of lottery were added to the regular quota lottery pool of petitions.
    • Lottery was conducted with the above combined pool to select 65,000 petitions towards the Regular quota cap completion.
    • USCIS will reject and return the H1B petitions with the filing fees that were not selected in the above lottery process ( No loss to the employer, only Attorney fees ), that were not found as duplicate. If duplicate, your money will not be returned !
    • USCIS will begin premium processing of the H1B Petitions no later than April 28th ( it means that they could be process early as well )
    •  USCIS will continue to accept petitions that do not fall under H1B Cap, especially petitions that fall under below
      • H1B Visa Extensions
      • Petitions that were filed towards changes in terms of employment
      • Employer change H1B petitions
      • Second H1B petitions for concurrent working of an employee
      • Petitions that are filed by Educational and research institutions

RedBus2US Lottery Predictions = USCIS Received Petitions FY 2015

We are very happy to say that our H1B Visa Lottery Predictions based on USCIS Data Trends were exactly in-line with the petitions received by USCIS. In February of this year, we predicted that USCIS would receive about 150K to 180 K petitions for FY 2015 quota, and our predictions were right !  We are very happy that our predictions have been consistently right ! Hope some of you were able to plan ahead of time with our predictions.  All of our readers have been amazing and collaborating well.  Thanks for all your support !

We are revamping our H1B Tracker, please add your case, if you get selected in lottery to our H1B Tracker !  It will be great to see the processing times.

What are your thoughts on this years H1B Season ? Did you expect more ?

What should USCIS do to meet the demand ?

Reference : USCIS Website : USCIS Reaches FY 2015 

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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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963 Comments

  1. Only in the case of H1 lottery – No news is the bad news 🙁

    I guess if we don’t get email from a lawyer by the end of this week, that means that PP petition wasn’t selected. Right?

    Reply

  3. Hey guys. Just got an email from my lawyers with my receipt number.

    AD/CA/PP
    WAC1413352XXX

    I was in the same boat as everyone on this forum last year, and I realize how incredibly frustrating this process is. I’m not going to debate the merits of the lottery system but the fact remains that it is the present status quo. I just wish each and every one of you the very best of luck.

    Reply

  4. One thing…those AD PP applications might have been selected under the regular quota lottery. USCIS does the lottery for AD and then puts all the applications that have not been selected in the regular quota pile.

    Reply

  5. Friends,

    I got selected last year want to help you guys morally, Dont loose hope until you get your packet returned.(the only sign that you are not through lottery). I waited for 4 weeks for my receipts and there were many other case last year who did not receive receipts for 2 months.

    I went through this phase last year and I know how it feels to wait. But there is nothing we can do. This is not end of life. Best of luck for you future career.

    Thanks
    Helper

    Reply

    • Similar situation, looks like VSC is lagging behind. CA is already has tracking number updated online. I give it a day or two.

      Reply

  7. Are they still sending emails out? or its over for those who didn’t get emails for AD/PP yet? is there any hope left?… Scared!

    Reply

  9. This H1B lottery is totally unfair. The quota should be defined for each country same like Green Card. I mean a lot Indians are now H1B applicants and its impacting the chances of H1B applicants coming from another countries. If Indians are being given a specific quota out of 85,000 Cap, the lottery or H1B selection will be more fair for others then.

    Reply

    • Agree – or put quotas on H1B dependent companies – most of those body-shops from India are H1B dependent (meaning that they have more H1B workers than US citizens). I cannot believe that legitimate US companies can’t hire a foreigner because the quotas are overloaded by those type of companies. US govtm has known about this issue for many years – and still they did nothing about it. To make matters worst – the new immigration does have regulations for H1B dependent companies – increased fees, limitations, so a lot of those body shops are trying to get as many people as possible this year, before the bill gets approved.

      Reply

    • I share your frustration, but don’t think that country-wide limits are a good idea, even though the country I am from contributes less than 1% of the H-1B population.

      I also don’t fault Indians who are simply trying to move up by getting better paying jobs in the U.S.

      However, considering that last year, Infosys had 10X more applications than Google, is simply mind-boggling. Google is an innovative, cutting-edge, profitable, and large American company that genuinely needs skills that are very hard to come by, and are in very high demand (not to mention highly compensated). Can we say the same for Infosys?

      Again, I’m not trying to say that the more qualified people deserve more facilities, but the whole premise of the H-1B program is to recruit the “best and brightest.”

      I think this situation really points to the failure of big companies like Google (and probably my employer too!) in making their case to lawmakers.

      There are huge profits to be made in outsourcing and body-shops — which is why companies like Infosys continue their H-1B reliance even after they paid a $34M fine to settle a visa issue court case. Imagine how much they must be earning to make it worth their while to settle?

      Also, the immigration lawyers are part and parcel of this system. If the system were simple, intuitive, and logical, employers wouldn’t need any lawyers whatsoever. Lawyers have a clear interest in keeping the system needlessly complicated, full of loopholes, and in having a million steps.

      Reply

  10. Hi. Last year my employer said they applied for our h1b but some how they couldn’t submit the application…and they informed the same after may .this year they applied the same.and m nt able to stop thinking abt it .though I know it’s near to miracle…still making my heart in peace checking everyone’s joy…if same thing might happen to me…last year pain and shock is still there…this year……….oh god

    Reply

  12. Hi Folks

    I read in a comment, Guy named Rajesh got Reg. AD receipt.

    Can anyone confirm on Reg.Processing Regular Quota confirmation received ?

    Thanks and Besties in Advance !

    Reply

    • Only employer or lawyer can call service center and find out if you are selected or not. If you make the call and they find out you are the beneficial, they will not check for you.

      Reply

  14. Anyone got email picked up through lottery has ‘date receipted’ in the email
    before 04/10/2014 ? for example date receipted 04/01/2014 ?
    We are still waiting.

    Reply

  15. There has been a lot of talk about lottery chances; here’s my best guess:

    – We don’t know how many applications USCIS received for the master’s cap. But in 2008 around 19% of all applications were from applicants with U.S. master’s degrees (see http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/news/uscis-releases-preliminary-number-of-fy-2009-h-1b-cap-filings-.html). For argument’s sake, let’s assume that the same ratio holds this year.

    – Hence, if you are a master’s applicant, the chances of you getting picked up in the first round are: 20/(0.19*172.5) = 61%

    – Once the master’s cap is used up, there are 65k more slots. Hence, the chances of success in the second round (for all applicants) are: 65/(172.5 – 20) = 43%

    – If you are a master’s applicant, the chances of you being unsuccessful in BOTH rounds is: (1-0.61)*(1-0.43) = 22%. Therefore, master’s applicants have, overall, a chance of 1-0.22 = 78%.

    – Non-master’s applicants have a chance of 43%.

    -These calculations are based on the assumptions that a) the ratio of master’s applicants is around 19%, b) that there are 65k slots available in the second round (i.e. does not take into account the Chile, Australia reserved slots).

    – If the master’s applicants are 33% of the 172,500 applicants, then a master’s applicant has about 63% chance of success. From what I have read, it’s unlikely that the master’s applicants constitute more than a third of the total pool.

    Reply

  17. Last year, the USCIS stopped taking new H1B FY2014 petitions on Apr 5, 2013 (Friday) and conducted lottery on Apr 7 (Sunday. On Apr 8, 2013 (Monday), the USCIS informed us they received about 124,000 petitions and the random selection process was completed.

    This year, the USCIS received about 172,500 H1B FY2015 petitions and conducted the random selection process on Apr 10, 2014. Some people received emails with a receipt number. Please do not panic, if you did not get any notification. We still have time to know about our result. Those who paid for Premium Processing (PP) should expect notification between Apr 10 and May 12, since the USCIS announced that they will start PP no later than Apr 28 (instead of Apr 15).

    I got this information from other website. NOTE: This applies to last year cases (FY 2014 ).

    “The earliest notifications in FY14 were premium-processing eMail receipts, which arrived on April 9, 2013. Even though the USCIS officially suspended premium processing timeframe guarantees for cap cases between April 1st and April 15th, some of the premium-processing cases, nonetheless, were acted upon promptly. The Murthy Law Firm even saw some cases approved by April 15,2013, for the last fiscal year.

    By April 23, 2013, the Murthy Law Firm had received eMail receipts for the remaining cases filed under premium processing, as well as additional approval notices. Also by that time, hard copy receipt notices for H1B cases filed under standard, non-premium processing had begun to come in gradually. These receipts continued to arrive throughout April and into May.

    In FY14, the USCIS began returning cases that had not been selected in the lottery on May 6, 2013. The packets containing these filings started to arrive via regular mail a few days later.”

    Reply

    • Yeah, you should not panic at all…. in my case last year I applied H1b R Quota R processing. I got update on Jun 11th that my file selected in lottery. Till Sep 30th i didn’t received any updates then I asked my employer to do Premium and he did. On oct 11th i received a RFE regarding Client Docs and Purchasing Order Stuff…. Submitted on Nov 11th… Approved on Nov 27th…. Don’t think about it.. Good Luck Guys

      Reply

  18. I saw someone got a receipt for regular processing. PP people – I think that the end of the road for us is very close. PP is processed ahead of regular

    Reply

    • Dude, given the fact that its weekend and not every single attorney is working over the weekend, don’t you think you can wait before you rush to that decision, specifically for everyone else….

      Reply

  19. I am asking a simple thing here. When will we know if we are selected in the lottery. What date. What latest date. I assume people have started getting receipt notices, while others haven’t. When can I expect the response about selection.

    Reply

  22. Employer: Big 4 Firm
    Work location: Chicago
    Law firm: Fragomen
    Law firm office location: Los Angeles

    Which processing center – California or Vermont?

    Background: 10+ yrs experience, top 15 US MBA, worked for a year under OPT. Petition mistakenly filed under Regular instead of AD last year. Didn’t make it through the lottery. Had to leave the job, but employer has kindly offered to file again. Working in India now.

    Don’t want to get into who’s deserving and who’s not (after all, everyone’s deserving in their own eyes), but I do believe that being unlucky twice will be ten times as hard. Praying and fingers crossed.

    Applicants through Fragomen, do keep the updates coming.

    Reply

    • You are not alone..there are plenty like you…

      I myself have 8+ yrs Exp and an US MS (Comp Sci) from a top 40 univ. While in OPT, I had applied for my H1b, but got rejected for reasons unknown. Have applied this year again and hoping to make it this time. Working in India at the moment.

      Reply

      • My situation is more frustrating than yours. I have been in the U.S. for more than half my life. I have a PhD from an Ivy League school. It has been a long and difficult journey to get the education and great job offer I have right now, and more than 16 years of work can wash away in an instant if the H-1B doesn’t come through.

        While I can’t judge any hard-working person, one can’t help but come away with the feeling that the system has been severely abused by the “body-shop” operations….

        Reply

        • Wow, Scientist I wish you good luck!
          My company told me that if I don’t get H1-B, they will transfer me to UK, and after a year I can come on L1 (without any stupid lottery).

          I assume since companies lose many good candidates to the lottery, they will figure out some other locations to work and then come back on L1.

          Reply

  27. Anybody hear anything from BAL Global Attorneys? I know BAL published a brief update on their website saying only a “limited number of employers have started receiving Premium Processing receipts on Friday, April”, so hopefully more are coming.

    Here is the link: https://www.balglobal.com/News/News/Details/tabid/1136/id/3474/language/en-US/UNITED-STATES-USCIS-issues-first-receipts-for-H-1B-cap-cases.aspx

    Reply

    • Not yet. I sent an email via secure messaging to my BAL lawyer and she said it would take a week or so to hear back. Mine is regular/PP.

      Reply

      • I got an update from BAL today with my receipt number.
        Mine is Non-AD/PP/California.

        All the best to everyone 🙂 Hope you get to know soon.

        Reply

    • Jonathan – I too am waiting to hear from BAL. Please do let me know if you hear, I will be happy to do the same for you.

      Reply

      • @Jonthan – thanks for the link. BAL told me that my employer would be the first to receive the notice. And it’s just Monday, so I would give them atleast a week to forward the notice to me, if there’s any. And 28th isn’t too far, and you’d know by then for sure, it yours is PP.

        Reply

  28. AD/PP/VT

    Just got the email from my lawyer that I was selected in the lottery. Crying tears of joy. Good luck everyone!

    Reply

  31. friends need your thoughts on this.
    Does uscis lottery distinguishes between a large mnc and a small desi consultant while assigning h1b to them. I heard from a friend that there are more chances of small consultants to get picked in lottery.

    Because if the uscis system just gives h1b based on simple probability then big mnc will get more quota.

    Eg one company files 100000 petitions then by simple math they should get 42000 h1b this year. But uscis does not do that and will not give so much h1b to single company.

    This is same as they assign green card to specific country not by population or any other parameter

    Please confirm if the above theory makes sense. Thanks

    Reply

      • But I have heard similar stories from last year. Knew 2 companies that had 5-10 reg petitioners that all made it through. Co-incidence?

        Reply

        • I wouldn’t pay attention to those who are making this claim — I would say there is essentially zero chance of the lottery showing favoritism toward larger, more established companies simply because doing so would be counter to the published laws and protocols.

          Now, it is quite possible that particular applications are scrutinized more, but that would only kick in after the lottery phase.

          Perhaps the reason why you have heard of applicants from large companies being more successful is simply that these applicants predominantly have graduate degrees from the U.S.

          Reply

  32. Last year I was in same page for a month did not selected in lottery ! This is crazy waiting want to give up and continue my work here ! If this time is same I would never think about trying to go again with same hurts ! I have found my job from usa employer after applying to 123 companies . I tried and worked hard to get this job ! And I begged the same employer this year to try again ! This is going to be the last try ! And I m not sure my employer would agree to do this next year ! Frustrated with this !

    BTW any one got receipt REG// Premium Processing ???

    If not

    When we can expect !

    Reply

  33. Dear All,
    I would like to clarify about duplicate filing. What does mean duplicate file ?

    1. Single Employer submit more than one petition for a same employee.
    OR
    2. Multiple Employer submit petition for a single employee.

    Another think is that How many employer can submit petition for a same employee ……

    Please clarify ………….

    Reply

    • As I learnt from this forum , One Employer filing multiple applications for same employee is duplicate filing.

      Don’t know about the limit.

      Reply

    • Single employer submit multiple applications for single candidate is considered as duplicate. There is no limit on on how many employers can file for same candidate.

      Reply

    • Hi Friends,
      I got the following info about Duplicate filling from USCIS…….

      Multiple or Duplicative Filings

      To ensure fair and orderly distribution of available H-1Bs, USCIS will deny or revoke multiple or duplicative petitions filed by an employer for the same H-1B worker and will not refund the filing fees. On March 19, 2008, USCIS announced an interim final rule on H-1Bs to prohibit employers from filing multiple or duplicative H-1B petitions for the same employee.

      Reply

      • It is unfortunate that they do not screen and remove multiple applications for the same candidate from different companies…

        Reply

          • Any ethical person would choose one job offer, and decline the rest.

            Forget the lottery, if you are given three job offers, is it fair to the employers (and to other applicants) if you accept all three of them, and then back out of the other two at the last minute? You will probably develop a reputation for being unreliable, and if word gets out, no company will give you a job offer again…..find it hard to believe that this has to be explained to some people….

  36. Hi,
    Has any one got receipt no from fragomen? Also, will we be getting receipt no during the weekend or have to wait till monday??

    Reply

    • Weekend most probably no update from uscis… Unless the lawyers are working and going to forward emails from Friday… Which I highly doubt…

      Reply

  39. I got a receipt number in the AD/PP category but that doesn’t show up in the USCIS website. Does it take some days before it shows up on their website?

    Reply

  41. Folks

    Seems, Non Premium processing is also parallely underway.
    Did anyone from Non premium group get notifications ?

    if so, please mention from which center it was issued.

    Reply

  43. Hi all,

    I waiting for the reply… How long do I have to wait for email in Premium processing to know whether it is approved ?

    Samy

    Reply

  45. US Grads, who applied for H1B, call your school DSO and ask for if there is any changes on your SEVIS. They will let you know if you are selected in lottery

    Reply

    • I believe that’s only if/when USCIS enters the info for selected participant. And as soon as they’re doing that, the lawyer is automatically getting the notification for that student right?

      Reply

      • EEE,
        Actually no. Once your application is selected in the lottery all the information about you are updated in the SEVIS. Any changes to your SEVIS has to be updated within a certain period of time. Albeit I am not aware of the dead line time. One of my friends who applied for H1B visa last year in the AD/RP, got his receipt number from his university’s DSO, before he could get the receipt number from the lawyer. The lawyers receive regular mail. Not sure how long that might take for the USCIS to sort out the papers and send it through mail. Since the lottery has been completed already, asking your DSO should help you in obtaining your receipt number. I am not applying for my H1B now and so I couldn’t provide you with my updates. But if you get your receipt ID from your DSO, please let me know. Thanks in advance

        Reply

  49. STOP PANICKING !

    It will take USCIS more than 2 weeks (from today) to enter all PP receipts in to the system. Emails are sent out when the lottery selected application is entered into their system.

    After 2 weeks, all RP applicants will be entered into the system. There is no AD/RQ preference.

    I speak from last year’s experience.

    Reply

    • Will all the applicants who had applied on PP based on AD/Masters should get an email in any specific time or it is usually they send it out in once the lottery is conducted – within 2 days or a weeks time ..

      Thanks for the responses..

      Reply

      • AD,
        If selected, their attorney/employer should receive the email in next few weeks. Once April ends, chances of selection in PP are pretty low.

        Reply

    • I remembered you from last yr. I too did not get in lottery last yr and changed my l1 to H4and staying at home after my 11yr of carrier. This yr applied in Reg/PP/CA.
      still keeping hope “GOOD LUCK”

      Reply

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