H1B Lottery and Advanced-Degree Cap Update
Posted May 04, 2007
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At the Murthy Law Firm, we are receiving many inquiries about the status of H1B cap-subject filings. Specifically, people are interested in the H1B cap lottery and want to know how they will learn what is going on with their cases filed for fiscal year (FY) 2008. The good or bad news for those subject to the H1B regular cap lottery is starting to arrive. We are continuing to receive receipt notices for our H1B cap subject cases that were selected in the lottery. The notifications for cases not selected in the lottery started to arrive on April 30, 2007. The USCIS has set May 11th as their deadline for issuing regular cap receipt notices. Since there is no online or other list of lottery "winners," we thought it would be helpful to let MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers know what is happening with the cases in our firm.
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Lottery Information Not on Internet - Check Your Mail or eMail
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A question often posed to us is whether one will know if her/his case was selected in the H1B lottery and whether there is a posting on the Internet that can be verified. There is no list available on the Internet. If a case was selected in the regular H1B cap lottery, the USCIS will issue a receipt notice dated after April 12, 2007. As mentioned above, they have set May 11th as their deadline for issuing receipt notices to the selected cases. The USCIS will also cash the filing fee checks. If a case was rejected, the entire filing will be returned to the employer or employer's representative. The filing fee checks will not be cashed. Thus, the answer is in the mail. (Premium processing cases receive eMail notification of the receipt notice, so their answer may come via eMail.)
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H1B Regular Cap Cases
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As MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers were informed as soon as it was determined, the regular H1B cap was reached on the first day of filing, April 2, 2007. Thus, under the regulations, the USCIS conducted a lottery to determine which cases filed on the first two days of filing, April 2nd and 3rd, 2007, would be selected to receive one of the limited H1B cap numbers under the regular H1B quota for FY2008.
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The USCIS held the H1B lottery on April 12, 2007. From that date forward, receipt notifications and approvals for premium processing cases began coming into our office. For those cases that did not use premium processing, the news is also starting to arrive. The receipt notices and notifications are coming in daily. With the May 11th deadline for issuing notices, everyone should know whether the news is good or bad in the near future.
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H1B Advanced-Degree Cap Cases
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We filed many advanced-degree cap cases for delivery by April 2, 2007 under the FY2008 quota. For those that used premium processing, we started receiving receipt notification and approvals within days of filing. As of the end of April 2007, many of the receipts for cases that were filed without premium processing have been received. As of this writing, no final decisions on non-premium processing advanced-degree cases have been received.
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As of this writing, we are awaiting the advanced-degree cap announcement. All cases filed before the cutoff date will have a cap number available to them. The most recent count available at this time is for April 30th. Therefore, all advanced-degree cases filed before that date have an H1B cap exemption number available.  
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Conclusion
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This is a time of great uncertainty for many MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers; for those who filed under the regular H1B quota and those who filed under the U.S. advanced-degree quota. Many are in limbo while they await the lottery, which will determine if they smoothly transition to H1B status or if they will be denied H1B status, despite their having the required education and skill that is in great demand by U.S. employers.