Please be advised that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2015 cap on April 1, 2014. Cases filed with the correct government filing fees will be counted as being accepted on the date of USCIS receipt, not the date of postmark.
The cap set by Congress for H-1B visas for FY 2015 is 65,000. There are an additional 20,000 petitions that will be accepted for processing for those individuals in possession of a U.S. Master’s Degree or higher, thereby making a total of 85,000 petitions that will be accepted for H-1B processing.
It is strongly anticipated that as in recent years the USCIS will receive more than enough petitions to reach both caps by April 7. If that occurs, the agency will use a random selection process to select the cases it will process to reach the numerical quota. Therefore, it is critical for H-1B petitioners to file their cases before April 7 in order to be provided a chance to be selected as part of this “H-1B lottery” process.
Please also note that procedures are available for many foreign national applicants picked for H-1B petition processing who are currently in F-1 student status to “bridge” any status gap and remain in the U.S. between the end of their F-1 status and October 1.
Further information can be found at http://www.uscis.gov/news/uscis-accept-h-1b-petitions-fiscal-year-2015-beginning-april-1-2014. If you are planning to apply for H-1B status at this time, Fuller and Fuller LLP would be happy to provide immediate assistance with this process.