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USCIS received 124,000 H1B Visa 2014 Petitions – Official Lottery Update Results

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As predicted by us earlier on USCIS official news update date, USCIS did an official press release today disclosing the details of overall petitions received and lottery process followed, including results. Below is a brief summary of the H1B Visa 2014 news release.

USCIS Official News : Summary of H1B Visa 2014 Lottery Results press release

  • Big News: For the first time in USCIS history since 2008, H1B Visas 2014 cap reached within the first week of filings, i.e, first week of April.  You can check out US Economy and H1B Visa Lottery
  • Total H1B Petitions received :  USCIS received a total of 124,000 H1B Visa petitions for fiscal year 2014.
  • Lottery Information : USCIS conducted a random computer generated random selection process, also called as lottery, on April 7th to select the petitions needed to meet the regular cap of 65,000 and masters cap of 20,000
  • Lottery Process followed: As described in our detail H1B Visa Lottery process, USCIS followed the same thing.  First USCIS conducted lottery process for Masters quota petitions and then the petitions not selected in masters lottery were merged with regular quota pool and random selection process was conducted for remaining pool to select 65,000 petitions.
  • Petitions Not Selected in Lottery  : If your petition was not selected in lottery, USCIS will reject and return the petition along with the filing fee, except for duplicate petitions.
  • Premium Processing for H1B Visa 2014 : To facilitate the data entry process and meet the timelines, USCIS will begin premium processing for H1B Visa 2014 from April 15th.
  • Non-Cap Subject Petitions Accepted :  USCIS will continue to accept non-cap subject petitions i.e, that have already been counted towards to the cap, including petitions filed under below category
    • H1B Visa stay extensions
    • Employee terms changes for H1B visa worker
    • H1B petitions filed for Change of employers
    • H1B petitions filed for concurrent working for more than one employer

Did I miss anything ?

Do you have any questions ? What are your thoughts ?

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Author
Satheesh Kumar Ilu
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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11,589 Comments

  3. What do you mean by duplicate applications? Multiple applications for the same employee from same employer right? Multiple employers can file for the same employee am I right?

  4. How would one receive an EAC or receipt numbers?
    Email or Text.

    My application was filed by the employer. My email was not in the form. Any idea how would I receive my receipt number. Will it be sent to the attorney directly?

    • Archit,

      For PP USCIS emials the employer/attorney who field your petition and the receipt notice follows in mail. In case of regular application, receipt is only received in the mail unless the peitioner has filled G-1145 form- E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance.
      All the best!

  9. Does anyone know whether the random selection (aka lottery) is a plain vanilla lottery or if there is any “bias/weighting to keep it fair” – e.g. bias to avoid few companies excessively applying for H-1bs, bias to give other countries a fair chance given some countries applying excessively, bias to keep one industry from applying excessively so that all industries get a fair chance etc…

  12. Premium processing in regular quota and in Master’s quota have started getting emails.
    I got mine which was in regular quota PP.

  13. Keep patience they just started to send the recipt numbers.

    Many people have not recived the receipt numbers from California center yet

  14. Has anyone in PP Masters Cap received a rejection so far? Are they sending receipt OR rejection Notice depending on whether you were selected OR not?

    • Latest news- USCIS is not going to send rejection petition until end of April.
      They are going to wait for new congress refrom to increase immigration count…

  15. Guys,

    its really freaking out … really is there rejection cases for LCA Processing candidates and Duplicate cases ?

    Just for Curiosity guys.. its really fucking me.

    Regards – MK

  16. Ok guys, little information I got from my employer. It works this way,
    If PP- you will get an email
    Regular without PP- Check will be encashed and receipt number will be on the back of the check.
    If not selected in the lottery- You will get package back in email.

    Source: My employer
    Mine is under Masters and regular processing
    Pray hard

  18. I just got mine from my attorney !! Yes I’m Masters Cap & PP – Vermont center …. Good luck to everyone !! I hope everyone here gets the good news very soon . Praying for you all !!

  19. It seems that 68.5 % (~70%) petitions out of total no. of applications (124K) got selected in lottery which is good figure though. And if we take 10% corrections (for rejections after selections, RFEs,etc..) then ~80% petitions are going to get visa this year.
    Do not lose hope guys. 
    -Bill

    • Same here,

      I haven’t received any updates yes, please let me know if you receive anything.

      This is very stressful.

    • Not yet. Still waiting. It is freaking me out. Please update if someone from California gets an update.

  21. https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/introduce-company-level-cap-temporary-work-permits-h1-b/tF8QSBhJ

    Please vote for the petition

  22. Question !!

    So, I guess 65k applications will be selected from 104k… That is 62.5% chance… Someone posted about the chances going up due to duplicate application…

    How will USCIS know that there are duplicate applications for the same employee until they process it? How will that increase the odds here since the duplicate rejections will happen only after the final pool 65k?

      • yes but the numerator will not be 10400 either, it should be 65000-n/10400-n. “n” is for some other reserved cap.

        but to a single person, this small probability error makes no difference.

    • Guys what is the Service Center for New Jersey region ?

      i can not bare this tension …………………………..did any body got receipt number Regular Quota on PP ?

    • Vinodh,
      As there is no transparency in their random selection process, this is what I can guess. When they enter all petitions in their system for selection, they would be entering other information like petitioner and beneficiary name. Using this they can determine whether there are duplicates or not.

  25. It seems some ppl have already received Receipt Numbers…
    Is this believable .. or these guys just playing around by giving false info?

  26. Would anyone know when can we expect to know lottery results (get receipts) for regular quota WITHOUT premium processing? My attorney says by the end of this month which sounds too long, and probably he’s being conservative.. Any indication from past experience or from what your attorney says?

    • Even My attorney said the same. We cant do any thing without waiting for the period that they ask us to wait.

      • Yeah I feel like my lawyers won’t even promptly let me know if my H1B is approved. I wish all H1B petition related communication from USCIS was cced to the applicants as well.

  27. My lawyers are a bunch of a**holes. I am in AD quota and my employers have applied for PP. I ask the lawyers when they expect to hear back and they send me a USCIS link saying that April 15th is when the PP starts. They are very terse in their response and have given me no info on whether they have got any petitions accepted or not.

    Looks like people are hearing back from USCIS regarding their H1B.

  28. Is there any one who got reciept number for Master Quota under regular processing Please provide update …

  30. from all the posts, looks like people are receiving receipts for Masters-PP from vermont service center

  31. I received my EAC this morning too! goodluck guys
    Masters premium process. I believe my employer recieved it by email

  32. wht percentage of these 124K applications are withdrawn/wrongly filled..on average?
    does anyone have any such numbers from the previous years?

      • thanks Pradeep.. thats nice to know…
        assuming same 18% wrong filing this year… now the lottery percentage shoots from 0.65 to 0.84..

        btw.. may i know the source of this 18% number?

        • Our attorney mentioned that to me. Hopefully USCIS considered taking some extra applications to replace these wrong filings during lottery selection.

        • How will USCIS know that there are duplicate applications for the same employee until they process it? How will that increase the odds here since the duplicate rejections will happen only after the final pool of 65k?

  34. Guys – We got 2 Master premium receipt numbers thru email. As I told earlier, Your employer or attorney only get email for premium cases. For regular cases they will send regular mail. Don’t get panic, if you haven’t got the receipt number. you will get it by end of this week..

          • If PP did not get mail, then they will recieve their application and checks in the mail. Either way, you will know whether you were selcted or not.

        • Hey xyz, May I know whether the check has been encased for your master pp applicants? I guess this is a better way for me to figure out whether I am picked or not soon since I am a master regular

    • This is not true. You can file G-1145 form along with your application. If USCIS receives this form, they will send some notifications to your e-mail (like your receipt number). It doesn’t matter if your case is PP or not.

      • for premium you you don’t need to file form g1145 form.. for RFE also, you will get thru fax under premium. when ever they assigned the receipt number, we automatically get the email alert with details..

    • So our of 10 you just got two ?? in our company we applied for two and we got receipt for one !! can you please update if you receive receipt for other 8 today ??

  35. Well, all this talk of H1 lottery and creating the buzz is okay. But can anyone explain me why the USCIS needs to do lottery in the first place?
    USCIS says it received a greater number of applications than the quota through April 5. Let us assume that this limit was reached on 3rd April. So USCIS should only do a lottery selection for the applications received on 3rd, 4th and 5th of April.
    Why are people who filed on 1st and 2nd April being subject to this?

    In normal years, USCIS sets a cut off date when it receives applications equal or greater than the quota. So why not do that this time around too?
    Else, it is like saying the filing dates are open from 1st April to 30th Septmeber, send in all applications, we’ll do a lottery to decide who gets to work on 1st October

    On blogs, I see people bickering about the worth of H1 between a Google and TCS employee, a PHD and a bachelors candidate etc., but no one seems tgo think that this problem can be solved by just doing the random selection for the ‘late’ applications.
    All worthy companies have their lawyers and application ready and on time for 1st April.

    • I AGREE! THERE SHOULD BE “RANDOM SELECTION” ONLY FOR APPLICATIONS RECEIVED AFTER THE 85,000 WAS MET.

      THIS IS VERY UNFAIR TO PEOPLE THAT DID THEIR HOMEWORK AND SUBMITTED APPLICATIONS ON TIME.

      • The reason for USCIS to consider include the whole week in the lottery is actually a way of fairness. Consider those applications that are delayed or messed up in mail delivery. If you have done your homework and send your application right on time with great hope, but hear it is delayed by Fedex and will be rejected or go to lottery, what do you think? Man proposes and God disposes.

      • I think RANDOM SELECTION for the applications recieved after 85,000 cut off is of no use, because if already count is reached then why do USCIS make a Lottery

        I think USCIS no where mentioned the cut off date, It was clear from the beginning that the quota will be reached by Apr 5th.

        • I don’t think you understood what I wanted to say. Consider the following example:
          April 1: 50000 applications
          April 2: 20000 applications
          April 3: 30000 applications

          Now, the lottery should only be done from the last 30000 to select 15000 applications for a total of 50000+20000+15000 = 850000

          • HS,
            USCIS announced that they will consider the first 5 days as equivalent to 1 day some years ago. This was to give enough breathing room to employers, lawyers, DOL and USCIS. Because they were accepting applications for at least 5 days, some employers may have to timed their package to be received on 5th.

            If they would have announced that they will consider only the petitions on the first day (if cap is reached on 1st), then who knows maybe 100K petitions would have reached on 1st itself.

            While we are discussing the point of FCFS, why stop on daily basis. Why not do by second basis – 12:10:10 PM 65K petitions received, so anything received after this timestamp should be rejected.

            USCIS has to give enough time to employers to file the application especially in a mad season like this. This is their way to do so.

          • Fitting response to a poster who would be unfit to be a so called specialty skilled non immigrant worker.

  36. Ok wait guys, this is confusing …. How does USCIS sending receipts only to applicants with PP? Arent we with regular processing should get the receipt first, so we have better chance to upgrade to PP before 15th april, if we want.

  37. Here is the email confirmation.

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

    Receipt Number: EAC13***********
    Date Received: 04/08/2013
    Petitioner: ***************************

    Beneficiary: *********************
    DOB: ********************
    Classification sought: H1B

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

    The Vermont 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.

    Please do not reply directly to this message. The e-mail account used to
    send this message is used by the Service Center only to send messages
    notifying filers of premium processing case information.

    If any of the information above is incorrect, please contact a Vermont
    Service Center Premium Processing Unit customer representative by forwarding
    this message with your comments to vsc-premium.processing@dhs.gov or by
    calling
    1-(866) 315-5718. Please note that the e-mail address and phone number
    listed above are designated for premium processing issues only.

    Thank you for using the USCIS Premium Processing Service.

  38. this should happennnnnnnnnn!!!!!!

    Please increase to 150000 !!!!!!so all of us get chance

    New Delhi, April 9: US Senators are working overtime to finalise the immigration bill and holding negotiations to increase cap on H1B visas to 100,000. There is a possibility that the visa cap may be raised to 1.5 lakh.
    The Senators are framing laws to boost visas for high-tech workers and also to punish companies that train workers in US and them overseas. One of the leading figure in this talks is Senator Dick Durbin (Democrat). He is keen to punish outsourcing firms and wants higher wages for workers brought in on the H-1B visas.
    According to media reports, there is overwhelming demand from companies like Microsoft, Apple and Google for the H-1B visas, which are now capped at 65,000 annually, plus 20,000 more that are reserved for foreign workers who have earned an advanced degree from a US university.
    Faced with that kind of a demand, the senators have contemplated lifting the cap to around 100,000, with a possibility of as high as 150,000.
    If the visa cap goes up, it is a clear win for the tech industry, which has been aggressively lobbying in recent years.
    Last week, the Homeland Security Department announced that after less than a week of accepting applications, it already had received more requests than visas available for the current year.
    The immigration bill will also allow permanent US residency to unlimited numbers of people with advanced degrees in Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) from universities in US.
    The Senate talks began today in Washington after a two-week spring break. There seems to be a broad agreement on the immigration bill, so dear to President Barack Obama, but the sticky point that is holding an agreement is the question of treatment of high tech visas. The bill is likely to be passed later this week or early next week.
    OneIndia News
    Story first published: Tuesday, April 09, 2013, 14:25 [IST]
    Topics: h1b, visa, immigration

    • No need for this. Just to limit petitions depending on country. Even such a limit as: 1/3 of total petitions for India, 2/3 for other world will solve the problem for all other countries. Because now is unfair: 2/3 of all petitions are from India, and other countries have to participate in such lotteries because of this.

  40. guys,,,,
    the discussion is taking side track
    lets concentrate on related doubts,,,,

    ppl who feels proud about their masters ,please continue the same,,but stop commenting others ,,,,getting Job in US just like nothing and you guys are keep fake experiences to get job,,,,,getting job in india is real one and tough one,, come to india and try getting the job,am sure u will not get !!!its open challenge

  41. Hi All,
    Can some one, Please let me know did USCIS conducted lottery?
    If yes …..When can i get my results weater my Application is picked or not ?

    Thanks in advance.
    Sony

    • USCIS conducted lottery on 7th for both master and regular quota.

      If your application is premium processing you will get to know within this week or it will take 2 weeks to know it is selected or not.

      • How is it possible? Premium clock starts on 15th April only. Before that all are same. If you happen to know EAC number early enough, you are just little more lucky than getting just (just!?) selected. PP will not impact before 15th.

        • Stupid TCS/Infosys/Wipro and other IT firms … Filling up H1B quotas for transferring files, testing shitty software and creating some god damn website.. Aarggghhhhh…

          • You can go for L1A or L1B depending upon your total experience, educational background and the Job position (junior/0senior/mid-senior etc.)

            Good part is: 1) There is no stupid quota. 2) GC approval is easier and way too faster to convert to EB1C from L1A.

            Flipside: 1) You can’t change the employer till I-140 approved. 2) Rejection rate is much higher.

          • How will I know whether my petition was selected in the lottery or not? My lawyers say that I’ll have to wait for the premium processing to start , but it does not make sense. Shouldn’t USCIS announce the list of rejected/selected petitions right after the lottery. In either case, when is the earliest I can know whether my career has been raped by USCIS or not?

          • Call me at +91-80-1234587654321. I can tell you if you are selected in the lottery. And then I will take the opportunity to ask you back whether I am also selected or not. Thanks for your support.

          • https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/introduce-company-level-cap-temporary-work-permits-h1-b/tF8QSBhJ
            Please vote

        • This Year USCIS gave many options to current H1B holders working in US, may be next year if they bring the same rule, many of them will be filtered….

    • Well if you really want to stay in US. You can do so by military service for 4 years, the program is called MAVNI. However even with MAVNI they also have max 60 caps for each foreign language: Hindi, Swahili, Nepalese, Chinse , and Korean are no longer available.

  44. Folks, it’s kinda challenging
    Firstly the h1b applicants from India are in the same boat if the
    Lottery is conducted for regular and masters.
    Now this year proves that it’s true…
    So. Schooling in the USA does not even guarantee a h1b
    Nor for the bachelors category which is open.
    Thereshould be a bill that all degree holders from the USA shud get the
    First preference than the ones in India.
    system is unfair to the international students who pay $30000 to $ 40000
    To come here to finish school.

    • I thought you went to US for higher study. But you are saying it is investment! A bad decision then, eh? If your purpose was not study then I doubt if you are any better than cybercoolie. Why dont you try a job in tcs/infosys?;-)

      • Hey Someone,
        Straightaway coming to US for work seems to be a CYBER COOLIE, than a student trying to improve his skills and try their hands on US job market. These master minds go back to own companies. Sadly you must be working for one such companies, under a Advanced Cap studs umbrella.

        At last we, we work to LIVE,
        and you LIVE to WORK. LOL!

        • When someone says something you should listen carefully sometimes.
          It does not matter you take a bus or train or plane to go for coolie work; if you are coolie from inside then you are. If you have gone for higher study just for getting a job in US or a gc, then you are coolie from inside. If you have studied from knowledge, then you are not. You can get a job anywhere after all and should be happy to work in india too.
          tcs/infosys guys are are surely coolies because they dont go for work but they go for a coolie wage in bulk based on their masters command [although they dont have to]– doesnt matter few of them have got capabilities. tcs/infosys are just like trucks. US universities are like AC trains if you desire to do coolie-giri. On the other hand if your attitude is such that you have studied and capable of working anywhere and then you choose to work in us, well, then you are not coolie from inside.

        • Dear Suman,
          I only explained what is called coolie (by that definition, working in tcs/infosys some one does not become coolie)
          You might have done masters; let me try to help you to self-criticize to improve your skills further that you have sharpened after going to US school (eh, does it need a US school?)
          — your definition of coolie: straight going to US for work is coolie. That way when some one goes delhi from mumbai for work, he becomes coolie. When some one goes to office from home they become coolie. Not well thought out.
          — improving skills: You really don’t hv to go to US for improving skills. I am sure you were not that bad student in India. Skill are actually improved by work experience and that way actually cyber coolies are more skilled than others on the job they do. Not well thought out. The only issue we disliked them because they hogged all the tickets.
          — getting job in US: Who says you that to get a job in US you have to study in US? And who says you that those who studies in Indian Institute (of or off Technology) lands up in java-ui-banking-mainframe-xyz (thats what you meant, right?) kind of job? A job offer requires you to be competent enough, is not it? Not well thought out. tcs/info sys visa based jobs are not open-jobs in that sense (actually those people dont go in job offer: to be technically correct) — they are only transferred employees with little extra expenditure.

          • Yes…. What is the same to accept as coolie, do you think coolie not a human, evety one do their own role in the world, stop discussing nonsense here. you are on earth, do your role in given time and go away…

          • Yes…. Why it is the same to accept as coolie, do you think coolie is not a human, every one do their own role in the world, stop discussing nonsense here. you are on earth, do your role in given time and go away…

  46. https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/introduce-company-level-cap-temporary-work-permits-h1-b/tF8QSBhJ

    Please vote

  47. I wonder what happens with petitions that win the lottery, but then are rejected. I thought they would create empty spots for other petitions, but if petitions that didn’t win the lottery are returned immediately I’m not sure what happens.

    • I have read that when in 2008 there was a lottery they did not reject all petitions that did not go through the lottery. They kept some petitions on hold as back up for the petitions that might get rejected. I have read it some where in redbus2us itself. I don’t remember which discussion was that.

    • Antonio Lopez,
      Based on historical denial, withdrawal rate, they keep extra petitions to make-up for those numbers. Not an exact science though.

      • Hi Saurabh,

        In the previous years where lottery didnt happen, the petitions were accepted for days together. My question is, this time why did USCIS freeze the receipt date on 5th and then conduct a wholesome lottery. Even this time they could have started filing the petitions from Apr 1st and announce on 5th that they have reached isnt it? Also, now due to lottery, I guess around 40-50k petitions would have an ill fate, and these could be considered as a back up as said above for the petitions that tend towards denial. Please clarify.

        Regards,
        Pratyy

    • As far as i have read through the forum and other places it is 1 week for PP guys and 2-4 weeks for normal processing.

      • you will get the result by this Friday. There is nothing different between PP or regular.. for PP consultants, they used to send email, for regular guys they used to send mail.. that’s only diff. petetioner will know by this friday through their bank account, whose h1b has selected..

    • They have started informing the lawyers and petitioners. I read from some where that if you have filed through PP then they will send an e-mail to the lawyer else they will send it through a snail mail. More over some people say that if your check gets en-cashed its a sign that you have won a lottery. They are still debating as to which one is quicker.

      • Noway of getting EAC number today itself or en-cashing the check..

        Guys don’t listen false news.. I am the employer, we applied for around 30 premium and 10 master quota premium( I am just saying about premium quota h1bs)…none of the check encashed so far.. i don’t think, none of our h1bs get selected.. Our applications gone to both California and Vermont.. I been in this business for more than 10 years.. For premiums, we used to get email prior to check encashed, once they assign receipt numbers ( couple of times only, we missed receipt emails so far).. the day they assign the receipt number, they deposit in to the bank.. Any banking check transaction used to update after 3AM EST..yesterday was Sunday, I am 100% sure that There won’t be any check en-cash today.. Probably, you guys will know from tomorrow onwards.

        Finally – It’s upto you whether you believe false news or not..

        • @xyz, when you get email could you please update us? Also if a PP application dont make in lottery will u get an email?

          • Mark, I got my EAC yesterday and posted the news here. Unfortunately, it seems many people don’t believe me claiming it to be “false news,” or “lie.” It’s totally up to them to believe it or not. I just wanted to share my experience so that the others can know what’s going on with his/her cases.

        • They have started informing the lawyers and petitioners. I read from some where that if you have filed through PP then they will send an e-mail to the lawyer else they will send it through a snail mail. More over some people say that if your check gets en-cashed its a sign that you have won a lottery. They are still debating as to which one is quicker.

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