Client Alert
Immigration News - April 3, 2007
April 03, 2007
Immigration Practice Group
H-1B CAP HIT – Heavy Filings at USCIS Service Centers
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has indicated that approximately 150,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions were received yesterday. The USCIS announcement is attached. It is not yet known how many of these cases are eligible for the H-1B advanced degree cap (20,000 additional numbers). Under procedures established by USCIS, a “lottery” will be held to determine eligibility based on filings received yesterday and today, April 2 and April 3. There are unconfirmed rumors that numerous petitions continued to arrive at USCIS service centers today. Based on the USCIS information and these rumors, it seems that any properly filed petition may well have as little as a one in three chance of successfully producing an H-1B visa. While it was widely feared that the cap could be hit as early as April 2, the USCIS announcement, and the heavier than expected filings, are likely to fuel renewed calls for legislative relief. Thus far, Congress has failed to act.
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