AUTHOR:  Davis C. Bae

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year (FY) 2014. USCIS has also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption. After April 5th, USCIS will not accept H-1B petitions subject to the FY 2014 cap or the advanced degree exemption.

All cases received by the USCIS by April 5, 2013 will be eligible for the H-1B visa “lottery."  The lottery will be held to determine which of the applications received by April 5th will be considered, while all other applications will be rejected.
 
Jackson Lewis will continue to provide updates on USCIS announcements on this important issue for employers.