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) 2014. USCIS has also received more than 20,000
H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the
advanced degree exemption. After today, USCIS will not accept H-1B petitions
subject to the FY 2014 cap or the advanced degree exemption.
USCIS will use a computer-generated random selection process (commonly
known as the “lottery”) for all FY 2014 cap-subject petitions
received through April 5, 2013. The agency will conduct the selection
process for advanced degree exemption petitions first. All advanced degree
petitions not selected will be part of the random selection process for
the 65,000 limit. Due to the high number of petitions received, USCIS
is not yet able to announce the exact day of the random selection process.
Also, USCIS is currently not providing the total number of petitions received,
as we continue to accept filings today. USCIS will continue to accept
and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap.
USCIS will provide more detailed information about the H-1B cap next week.
For more information about USCIS and its programs, please visit
www.uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter
(@uscis), YouTube (/uscis) and the USCIS blog
The Beacon.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions regarding this issue.