Advanced-Degree Cap Reached for FY2008
Posted May 04, 2007
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The USCIS released an announcement on May 4, 2007 explaining that the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 advanced degree cap had been reached on April 30, 2007. This means that no more advanced-degree cases can be filed for FY2008. Any cases filed after April 30, 2007 requesting an advanced-degree exemption will be rejected. The cases filed on April 30, 2007 will be subjected to a random, computer-generated lottery.
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Lottery for April 30, 2007 Advanced-Degree Filings
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April 30, 2007 is designated as the "final receipt date" for advanced-degree cases. As with the regular cap, there will be a lottery to determine which cases filed on that day receive the final group of cap exemptions. Unlike the regular cap for FY2008, the lottery will consist only of cases filed on a single day - April 30th.
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Since there will be a lottery for the April 30th cases, this means that some cases filed on that date will get a cap number, while others will not. This is contrary to information previously provided by the USCIS and mentioned in our May 4, 2007 article, H1B Lottery and Advanced Degree Cap Update.
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Prior to the cap announcement, the USCIS had given a cap count for April 30th, indicating that there were still exemptions remaining. There was no indication of additional, unaccounted for cases that had been filed on April 30th. Because of this, we indicated that advanced degree cases filed on or before April 30th would be accorded a cap exemption if they were otherwise eligible for approval. However, the modified information provided by the USCIS in the cap announcement states that there will be a lottery for April 30th cases. Thus, there are not enough cap numbers for all cases filed on that date.
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Both Caps Reached
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With this announcement, both the regular and advanced-degree caps have been filled for FY2008. The regular cap was exceeded on the first day of filing, April 2nd, and the advanced degree cap was reached on April 30th. Thus, the caps have been reached within the first month of filing, well before the start of the fiscal year