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USCIS News : H1B FY 2019 Cap Reached – Summary, Lottery ?

USCIS did a press release now that they have reached H1B Visa FY 2019 quota cap. This year, they first updated their H1B updated page for FY 2019, then sent the email update to all the subscribers of H1B updates and then finally released the press note of the same. In any case, the message is no different from previous years. I would say, it is kind of copy and paste from previous’ years press releases.

Summary of H1B FY 2019 Cap Reached Press Release : 

  • Regular and Masters Quota Cap Reached : H1B Visa quota cap of regular quota of 65,000 for FY 2019 reached. Also, US Masters degree H1B quota cap of 20,000 for fiscal year 2019 reached.
  • Rejection and Return of Petitions : USCIS will reject and return filing fees for all unselected cap-subject petitions that do not fall under Duplicate H1B Filings New Rule of 2018
  • Cap Exempt H1B Petitions : USCIS will accept petitions that are H1B cap exempt like below
    • Previously cap counted H1B workers like for Transfers, extensions.
    • Also, H1B petitions filed for change of employment terms
    • Concurrent H1B petitions filings for second H1B position.

What’s the take ? Any changes from previous years ?

It is not much different from the previous years press releases. They do not really tell that there will be lottery, but subtly indicate that they will “reject and return petitions for all unselected cap-subject petitions.” The key message from this statement is that there will be H1B Visa lottery like the past years and there were more petitions filed than the required cap.

As mentioned in our previous article on What to expect for FY 2019 season, the lottery date for FY 2019 could be around April 11th or 13th based on historical data of the past like below.

    • For FY 2018, it was done on April 11th, 2017
    • For FY 2017, it was done on April 12th, 2016
    • For FY 20167, it was done on April 13th, 2015.

What do you think of the press release ? Share your thoughts.

If you have applied for FY 2019 quota, please add your case to the tracker for everyone’s benefit as you will be in some unknown period with many waiting for lottery.

[prompt type=”left” title=”Track your H1B Case” message=” Anonymously Track your H1B Case – Share and Get updated from Community.” button_text=”H1B 2019 Case Tracker” href=”https://redbus2us.com/trackers/h1b-visa-tracker/”]

Email Sent to USCIS H1B update Subscribers :USCIS Press Release Notes email H1B 2019 Cap Reached

USCIS web page update : 

USCIS Reaches FY 2019 Cap New Alert USCIS

Reference :

   

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79 Comments

  1. Hi Kumar,

    There is an update on the Cap count page:

    “”Cap Eligible Petitions
    This is the number of petitions that USCIS has accepted for this particular type of cap. It includes cases that have been approved or are still pending. It does not include petitions that have been denied. “”

    I dint get the part “It includes cases that have been approved or are still pending.” are they talking about the counts which all are selected in lottery? In that case why did they write “It does not include petitions that have been denied.”??

    Reply
    • Yes, they mean the ones that are selected and being processed or approved after being selected in lottery. The reason for the last sentence is to tell that they do not count denials towards the cap, either if they are denied before or after lottery or after processing and if they get denied to make sure they count towards the cap of 85,000

      Reply
  2. Lottery was completed on 11th itself. See the below link

    https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/us-agency-conducts-h-1b-visa-lottery-for-1-90-lakh-applications/articleshow/63743351.cms

    Reply
  3. H-1B Regular Cap
    94,213

    H-1B Master’s Exemption
    95,885

    This is the first time USCIS has published these kinda stats… Always suspected there are way too many OPTs here … Getting Masters at degree mill universities and hiring desi consultants to file dubious H1 visas.

    Is the dowry allure that much ??? Is there a way USCIS can filter these dowry cases 😀

    Reply
    • 36 months OPT gives 3 chances. 236k in 2016, 199k in 2017. If you assume 25% MS students, then 95k in 2018 is not a big number

      Reply
    • Get ready then! Site traffic is gonna be skyrocketing!!! Keep commenting!!! Whatever happens on earth, In this juncture kumar will be the most happiest person 🙂

      Reply
        • Yup am from modi land. Soon Indian Embassies out there will be busy handling applications those who want to travel India. But for sure we wont restrict you folks in the name of lottery. Whoever deserves it will get it

          Reply
    • Its better to go back to our own country or other countries and help build their economy. We have no respect in US anymore. These people don’t deserve us. They forget we are also the building blocks of this nations, highest taxpayers and we are feeding so many healthy and educated Americans who have filed unemployment so they can just sit at home, walk their dogs and drink beer all day.

      Reply
  4. USCIS is shutting down for maintenance tonight(9 PM – 12 AM EST – Refer official Site) which potentially happens every year while executing the algorithm for lottery.
    So, Folks you know what I mean!!! But still try to catch some good sleep tonight 🙂

    Reply
  5. Hi, does USCIS pick application from specific consultancies? I hears consultancies people have good chances to be picked.

    Reply
  6. When the lottery results will be shared with the applicant? Will get an email or i get the communication through my comapny?

    Reply
  7. Company’s attorney mailed that the check with my application was processed, will share the receipt number only after receiving the I797 from uscis.

    Reply
  8. Why did USCIS just mentioned that there will be no lottery this year? If it is going to be merit how will the process go? Any quick update on this would help people in acquiring the required skills.

    Reply
  9. USCIS will conduct the lottery first , then they will identify the Duplicate petitions (if more than 1 application gets picked ) and issue RFE’s , the word Multiple is entirely different from the word duplicate , Multiple applications are with in the law and legitimate ( Provided that you have a 2 genuine companies offering H1B) , If you filed 2 H1B from 2 different companies which are no where related and filed for 2 different jobs both the petitions will be processed.

    Reply
    • It is not. I agree people believe so and in the past there was no issue from USCIS but dont forget Day-1 CPT was thought to be “perfectly legal”. However, there are enough rejections in FY 2018 to prove otherwise. When it comes to legal press releases, every word has a meaning and if USCIS changed duplicate (FY 2018 press release ) to multiple (FY 2019), rest assured there is something more brewing.

      Reply
      • It is not. If they were to remove duplicate petitions before lottery, then the lottery will take place in May-June period. For them to complete the lottery immediately after first week of April, they start with the basic details on petitions, complete the lottery and then get on with the detailed data entry and validations for rest of the processing.

        Reply
  10. We will have to wait till the official news to find out if the increased scrutiny discouraged the Indian outsourcing syndicate.

    If not, even the existing H1-Bs will see there jobs outsourced!

    Reply
    • There is no definite timeline. It can come anywhere from the next day of lottery till June. The quickest way to know the result is whether the check which was sent along with the petition was en cashed or not.

      Reply
  11. Hello,

    I am having the check number.how can I understand this check Han been deposited to USCIS.is there any link.

    Reply
    • Usually, you would see the check deposit entry in the bank account of the employer/attorney, who wrote the check. Having check number is not sufficient. You need to check with your employer/ attorney

      Reply
  12. If I am not wrong, they full with the Cap on very last day. So as per my assumption, I don’t think there would be more application came this year. If we compare to last year’s data, they full with Caps on 3rd day. Any guesses?

    Reply
    • https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-reaches-fy-2018-h-1b-cap

      it came on the 5th day same as this year but I still believe number of application would definitely less than 140k.

      Reply
    • RT,
      They never told in the past that cap was filled on 3rd day…It is mere speculation. They are bound to accept petitions for 5 days and have always released press note on the last 5th day.

      Reply
      • No Kumar, Last year, there were bunch of articles on very 3rd day, saying the Cap reaches their limit. And that was the reason, why they create a hype this time by adding bunch of restriction. Even Redbus2us have their blogs which mentioning, the cap was filled on 3rd day for 2018.

        I think the range will be between 90 to 1.05.

        Reply
        • Those are all speculations and trolls. If you point me to a source like USCIS link or any article link on our blog, would be great to clarify.

          Reply
    • Based on history, maybe anywhere between April 11th to 17th, when USCIS does press release. Lottery may happen around April 11th or 13th, but in the past USCIS updated everyone on April 17th, so can be anywhere in those dates…

      Reply
  13. Kumar & others,
    Could you please explain the language: “unselected cap-subject petitions that do not fall under Duplicate H1B Filings New Rule of 2018”.
    It is my understanding that USCIS will check and retain certain multiple filings, including unselected petitions. Could you confirm?
    If this is the case, USCIS will check multiple filings before or after conducting the lottery?
    Thank you for clarifying

    Reply
    • Yes, USCIS will check and retain certain multiple filings, provided they believe that those are not duplicate… They will do it in both times, before and after. Some of them cannot be judged based on initial info, so they will be done after the lottery…

      Reply
        • Probably the ones considered duplicate before lottery may not be included in the lottery…Think of it, they have already violated the policy and will be rejected anyways, why would they be part of lottery ?

          Reply
  14. Hey Kumar,
    My application was delivered to the USCIS on 5th April Thursday 5 pm ET. I don’t know much about this process. My concern is whether my application will be selected to put into the lottery system? Has the USCIS stopped accepting CAP applications?

    Reply
  15. When did USCIS reach the CAP last year? This will probably give some indication whether there will be more or less number of H-1B petitions as compared to last year.

    Reply

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