H-1B Cap Reached for FY 2008

USCIS has announced that the H-1B cap for Fiscal Year 2008 was reached on the first day that filing was permitted, April 2, 2007. The announcement contains further information on the random selection lottery, on the U.S-earned Master's degree exemption from the cap, and on processing of petitions.

With the limited slots for H1B cap-subject workers gone, only the fortunate recipients are yet to be determined. The status of the 20,000 numbers available for advanced-degree cap applicants remains unknown, awaiting further USCIS notice. This will be revealed as each filing is reviewed by an officer.

Many AILA members have raised the question of how USCIS will handle premium processing H-1B filings in light of the length of time it is likely to take USCIS to conduct its random selection for the cap cases. AILA has raised this with USCIS, which is reviewing the issue.

Members have reported receiving receipts on cases submitted for premium processing. It should be noted that getting a receipt does not mean the case has been accepted for processing. It only means that the case will be in the lottery.

Applications for H-1B visas officially exceeded the 65,000 annual cap on April 2, 2007 - the first day applications for fiscal year 2008 could be filed.

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