USCIS have finished returning unselected H-1B petitions that were not selected in the FY2019 cap lottery. Employers should receive petition packages and fee checks by August 13, 2018. This year, a total of 190,098 H-1B cap petitions were received, of this, 95,885 were submitted towards the cap exemption of 20,000 for holders of U.S. advanced degrees and 94,210 were submitted towards the standard quota of 65,000. The agency ran two lotteries on April 11 to select which cases will be processed to completion.
USCIS continues to adjudicate pending cap cases and to issue requests for evidence (RFEs). The sooner an RFE response is submitted, the greater the likelihood the case will be decided in time for an October 1, 2018 H-1B employment start date. To learn more about the H-1B visa and its requirements, please click here.
