Many of you have been waiting for the official USICIS news update on this year’s H1B Visa season start date and guidance on filing applications for some time… Last year for FY 2014, USCIS press release was one on March 16th, this year it is about 10 days late…Anyways, Your wait is over ! USCIS did an official news release earlier today on their website. This article will present the summary of the press release.
Summary of USCIS H1B Visa 2015 News Release :
- USCIS will accept H1B Visa petitions for the fiscal year 2015 starting from April 1st, 2014
- H1B Petitions will be considered by USCIS as accepted only when
- They receive the application properly filed with correct fee and
- They physically receive the petition, NOT post mark date ( for lottery )
- The H1B Visa cap for this fiscal year did not change (The immigration reform speculations for H1B cap increase is still a dream) . They are :
- 65,000 visas for regular quota
- 20,000 visas for advanced degree quota( with US Masters only )
- USCIS expects the cap will be filled by April 7th and they will receive enough petitions for both quota. There will be random selection ( H1B Lottery), if more petitions are received than the stipulated cap.
- H1B Lottery/ Random Selection : If there were to be random selection aka lottery
- The non-duplicate petitions that are not selected will be rejected and returned with filling fee
- The applications received by USCIS in the first 5 days will be considered for H1B Lottery. Check out How USCIS H1B Visa Lottery Works
- H1B Visa 2015 Premium Process Guidelines
- USCIS anticipates many premium processing applications during this season.
- They will consider Premium processing start date for any application no later than April 28th ( means, the 15 day processing clock will start no later than April 28th , it could be processed early as well )
- The premium processing for non-cap subject petitions that do not fall under FY 2015 cap will be normal 15 days.
- USCIS expect that all the H1B Petitions to be filed as per requirements and guidelines to avoid delays and RFEs. They have given a checklist with application for benefit of everyone
This year’s press release by USCIS is pretty similar to last year’s. Only difference is the premium processing start date, it was April 15th. I believe, USCIS with their past experience has adjusted the date to make sure employers have the right expectations for premium processing decision timing…
Do you think USCIS should have increase the H1B cap this year ?
What are your thoughts ? Do you think Immigration reform will pass this year ?
Reference : USCIS Official press release
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Lottery selection algorithm can be rewriiten with priorities for the candidate rejected in last lotteery. USCIS can you please think on this.
then its not a lottery system anymore.
Good morning ,
I want your suggestion about my H1B renovation and transfer.
Let me tell you my background.
1- I came to USA to study my Master degree for 16 months in feb. 2009 (Visa F1)
2-I finished my Master degree in Jul 2010 and I got OPT visa for 1 year (from Aug. 2010 to Aug 2011)
3-After one year I got H1B for 3 years (From Set 2011 to Set 2014). from Employer A
Can I renew and transfer my Visa to other employer B, since my ex-employer A was in bankruptcy but they can release a letter about my employment.
I will appreciate your help
Regards
Walter Ramirez
USCIS received about 172,500 H-1B petitions during the filing period which began April 1, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption. On April 10, 2014, USCIS completed a computer-generated random selection process, or lottery, to select enough petitions to meet the 65,000 general-category cap and 20,000 cap under the advanced degree exemption. For cap-subject petitions not randomly selected, USCIS will reject and return the petition with filing fees, unless it is found to be a duplicate filing.
USCIS Reaches FY 2015 H-1B Cap
Release Date: April 10, 2014
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on April 7 that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 visas for fiscal year (FY) 2015. USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the advanced degree exemption.
USCIS received about 172,500 H-1B petitions during the filing period which began April 1, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption. On April 10, 2014, USCIS completed a computer-generated random selection process, or lottery, to select enough petitions to meet the 65,000 general-category cap and 20,000 cap under the advanced degree exemption. For cap-subject petitions not randomly selected, USCIS will reject and return the petition with filing fees, unless it is found to be a duplicate filing.
The agency conducted the selection process for the advanced degree exemption first. All advanced degree petitions not selected then became part of the random selection process for the 65,000 limit.
On March 25, USCIS announced that they would begin premium processing for H-1B cap cases no later than April 28. For more information on premium processing for FY 2015 cap-subject petitions, see the related USCIS Alert.
USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. Petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap will not be counted towards the congressionally mandated FY 2015 H-1B cap. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions filed to:
Going by history, USCIS never released more than one news item per day. They have already released one today, about the change of district names. So, I don’t think there is any update going to happen today. What do you think?
This is not true.
Just checked dates 6th nov. 2013, 17th sep. 2013. They have released more than one news.
Check another date july 01, 2013. there are two news on this day.
Guys, any updates??
Im very curious in knowing the exact number of applications , any guess how much it could be? Fingers crossed!!!!!
Was the cap reached today or was the announcement made today ? If the cap reached today, does it mean USCIS got the the 65000 + One more petition today ?
USCIS Reaches FY 2015 H-1B Cap
Release Date: April 07, 2014
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year (FY) 2015. USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the U. S. advanced degree exemption.
Before running a random selection process, USCIS will complete initial intake for all filings received during the filing period which ended today. Due to the high number of petitions, USCIS is not yet able to announce the date on which it will conduct the random selection process.
A computer-generated process will randomly select the number of petitions needed to meet the caps of 65,000 visas for the general category and 20,000 under the advanced degree exemption. USCIS will reject and return filing fees for all cap-subject petitions that are not selected, unless found to be a duplicate filing.
The agency will conduct the selection process for the advanced degree exemption first. All advanced degree petitions not selected will become part of the random selection process for the 65,000 limit.
Its the law! that they should accept the petitions for 5 business days, may be who knows they might have received beyond the cap on April 1st itself, we will only know when the actual data comes out!
http://www.uscis.gov/news/uscis-reaches-fy-2015-h-1b-cap
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year (FY) 2015. USCIS has also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions filed under the U. S. advanced degree exemption.
Before running a random selection process, USCIS will complete initial intake for all filings received during the filing period which ended today. Due to the high number of petitions, USCIS is not yet able to announce the date on which it will conduct the random selection process.
Some people think that USCIS stopped taking any more FY 2015 H1B Cap petitions. They will take until COB. The wording in their website should have been clear. They could have used terms like “will close the filing period after 4/7/14”.
http://www.uscis.gov/news/uscis-reaches-fy-2015-h-1b-cap
Source: http://www.aila.org/RecentPosting/RecentPostingList.aspx
“USCIS announcement that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for FY2015 for both the general category and the advanced degree exemption category and will close the filing period after 4/7/14. A random lottery will occur at a later date.
AILA Doc. No. 14040740.”
OMG. Fingers crossed 🙁
USCIS First Update on their website::
http://www.uscis.gov/news/uscis-reaches-fy-2015-h-1b-cap
I will make india a great country in 10 years!!! Please join me in this himalayan task!!!
Do you think guya, i should apply for H1B visa after seeing my interview with Arnab Goswami??
Yes!!! sure, you will not have any work in India after the Election!!!
I tired last year too but was not selected. I am back this time to try my luck again!!! Hopefully few weeks from now I will be able to say the SRK’s famous dialogue — “Harkar jitne wale ko baazigar kehete hein”
Guys, any updates on H1B 2015??
no lottery as of now on 3rd april..lets see what happens in next 2 days
How you know that there is no lottery till 4/3?
Lottery will happen after 5 working days…….
Hi Guys,
Do USCIS wait till the end of 5 days to upload the CAP Count status in its website or do it update it immediately after receiving the cap count?
When the cap opens, they report the first count after 5 business days. That means, this year, it will be announced on or after 04/07.
After that, if the cap is not met, then every 2 – 3 days.
It is evident that it is going to be lottery this year.
All the best to my fellow applicants!!
Minimum you need to wait 20 to 40 days to know the result(Non-Premium).
I Spoke to Obama to Reject all Indians Petitions!!!
Is there a rule: If DOL doesn’t make a decision within 7 days of filling LCA, then H1B can be filled with the just LCA receipt #.
Can any one confirm this rule?
Ask your employer/lawyer to check your case status online. Do not wait for the email.
The rule was only applicable during government shutdown in oct/nov 2013.
Online shows still in process
No, In any case you will not be able file H1B without LCA
Dont worry, there is always another year!!! i Will talk to Obama!!!
When we get the receipt, that USCIS has recieved our package. ?
You will get receipt only if you will be selected in the lottery. Normally it will take 5-7 business days to get the receipt if selected.
This year my company is filing H1B for me. When can we expect the lottery results.? Usually how many days will take for announcing lottery results.?
In betweet Apr 18 – May18. If someone won;t get any information after May18 forget H1 this year.. may god bless with H1 for all good people 🙂
thats not true. Last year my employer files my H1-B in regular quota + non premium. He received the receipt in August.
I tried last year, and I’m trying again this year.
1) 5 Business days after April 1st is April 7th (NOT APRIL 5).
2) Regarding – “Do you think USCIS should have increase the H1B cap this year ?” – USCIS does not have such powers (they cannot increase the cap) so the question is meaningless
Is it possible to file H1B without LCA approval?
I have filed lCA, but still in process; running out of time.
No. “An LCA must be certified by the DOL prior to filing an H1B petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS); an H1B petition submitted without a certified LCA is rejected by the USCIS mailroom and returned to the petitioner as an incomplete submission.”
http://www.murthy.com/2013/10/17/coping-with-lca-h1b-delays-during-a-government-shutdown/
Well, there is a rule: If DOL doesn’t make a decision within 7 days of filling LCA, then H1B can be filled with the LCA receipt #.
Can any one confirm this rule?
That rule was only applicable during the government shutdown in Oct- Nov – 2013.
You’re screwed
No, your H1b petition will be rejected and not even considered for lottery.
You have time till Friday to receive an approved LCA. Once your attorney has all the documents, he/she can send it overnight to USCIS.
Best of luck
This year my company is filing H1B for me. When can we expect the lottery results.? Usually how many days will take for announcing lottery results.?
Hope you didn’t got your degree from Osmania or Nagarjuna University!
Its not April 5th… but April 7th…. USCIS accepts all H1B applications atleast for 5 working days even after all numbers are exceeded… All applications received till Apr 7 will have same chance in the lottery… which will there for sure considering all other parameters…
“The non-duplicate petitions that are not selected will be rejected and returned with filling fee” –> What is being referred as duplicate here? multiple filings from the same employer? or from different employers as well?
Duplicate filing refers to multiple H1B petition’s for an employee “a” from the same employer “b”.
Yes! Petitions for the same person from different employers are NOT considered as duplicate.. only petitions for same person from same employer are considered as Duplicate.. and such duplicate petitions are taken very seriously.. no employer should even try that..