[author: Laura Anne Schierhoff]

Two weeks after the close of the FY 2018 H-1B Cap on April 7, 2017, members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) are reporting they are receiving receipts for Cap cases. This is very good news, after this cap season ended without the option of premium processing. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that effective April 3, 2017, they would suspend Premium Processing for all H-1B petitions. The suspension is temporary, but means that employers cannot pay an additional fee ($1,225) to have an H-1B petition adjudicated within 15 calendar days for cases received by USCIS. This announcement included all Cap-subject cases that went into the “lottery,” so no Cap cases could be expedited as they could not be filed before April 3, 2017. Therefore, many believe it may longer to learn whether a company’s petition was selected through the “lottery” to receive receipt notices from USCIS for cases accepted for processing toward the Cap. According to the USCIS on-line status system, the agency’s current processing times for H-1B petitions under normal (not premium) processing is between five to nine months.