Update on H1B Cap Cases

On April 10, 2014, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) completed the fiscal year 2015 (FY15) lottery process for both advanced degree (or master’s) cap and regular H1B cap cases. However, many employers, potential H1B workers, and family members are still anxiously awaiting the results. The Murthy Law Firm has begun to receive receipt notices for regular and premium-processing cases, and more are arriving each day.

H1B Premium-Processing Cases

The USCIS began issuing receipt notifications of H1B cases via eMail on April 11, 2014 for premium-processing cases. The electronic notices will be followed by physical notices, sent through the U.S. mail. The Murthy Law Firm received the first of these hard-copy receipt notices for premium-processing cases on April 14th. These undoubtedly will continue to arrive. The USCIS has indicated that processing under the premium-processing timelines of fifteen (15) calendar days will resume by April 28, 2014.

Standard Processing H1B Cases

The USCIS does not send electronic receipt notifications for cases filed using the standard filing option (as opposed to premium processing). For these cases, only hard copy notices are sent. The Murthy Law Firm began receiving such notices on April 21st from both the California Service Center (CSC) and the Vermont Service Center (VSC). These notices inevitably will continue to filter in through the end of April and, likely, into the month of May.

Expect H1B Packages Not Selected in Lottery by May

Once the receipting process is complete, the USCIS will begin to return the cases that were not selected in the lottery. As of this writing, the Murthy Law Firm has not received any returned H1B cases.

Conclusion

There continues to be a great deal of tension, as many stakeholders are still waiting to learn whether their respective cases were selected in this year’s H1B lottery. MurthyDotCom will continue to provide updates on this important topic as new information becomes available.

Copyright © 2014, MURTHY LAW FIRM. All Rights Reserved