Immigration Alert: USCIS Runs Random Selection Process for FY2009 H-1B Petitions

4/15/2008

On April 14th, United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) conducted the computer-generated random selection process on H-1B petitions received within the first five business days of April, and has subsequently released tentative timelines for the next stages of the FY2009 cap-subject H-1B process.

According to USCIS, approximately 163,000 H-1B petitions were submitted in the first five days of the eligible filing period, with 31,200 of those petitions qualifying in the U.S. Masters H-1B category. The first “lottery” was run to select the 20,000 qualifying US Masters H-1B petitions. Those US Masters petitions that were not selected in this drawing were then included in the lottery to select the additional 65,000 H-1B visa petitions.

USCIS has indicated that “petitioners whose properly-filed petitions have been selected for full adjudication should receive a receipt notice dated no later than June 2, 2008.” While not explicit, the implication is that USCIS is giving itself until June 1, 2008, to enter the “accepted” H-1B petitions into the system and notify the petitioners (or their attorneys) of this acceptance. USCIS also indicates that it is giving itself this long to return “rejected” H-1B petitions as well. We will provide an update if USCIS issues further clarification.

USCIS announced that for those H-1B petitions filed via premium processing and selected in the lottery, the 15-day adjudication clock would start as of April 14th, the date the lottery was run. In addition, USCIS indicated that it has come up with a system to “wait list” some H-1B petitions, keeping them available to replace H-1B petitions that were accepted in the random lottery but, upon examination, are denied, withdrawn, or found otherwise ineligible. USCIS will send letters to wait-listed petitioners to inform them of this status; within six to eight weeks, the USCIS expects to issue a receipt notice or return the “wait listed” petition.

We will continue to provide further information as it becomes available.

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If you would like more information on any immigration
matter, please contact your immigration attorney
at Mintz Levin or go to www.mintz.com.

Susan Cohen
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Jeffrey Goldman
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Reena Thadhani
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William Coffman
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Brian J. Coughlin
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Lorne Fienberg
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Marisa Howe
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Bethany S. Mandell
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Daniel Maranci
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