On April 17th, USCIS announced that it received 199,000 H-1B petitions during the FY2018 cap filing period, which began April 3, 2017. USCIS has also completed the computer-generated random selection process (aka the "lottery") to select petitions for FY2018.
The Service conducted the lottery for the 20,000 cap for U.S. advanced degree holders first. All unselected advanced degree petitions then became part of the lottery process for the 65,000 standard cap.
Receipt notices are only issued to petitions selected in the lottery and accepted by USCIS, and it is anticipated that process may take several weeks due to the high volume of cases. All unselected petitions will be rejected and returned.
The H-1B cap and lottery does not impact H-1B petitions otherwise exempt from the cap, such as current H-1B workers previously counted against the cap who are seeking an extension of H-1B status or a change in the terms of their current employment.
The Service has suspended the premium processing program for all H-1B petitions filed as of April 3, 2017. This means that any petition for H-1B status, whether subject to the cap or not, is not eligible for this expedited 15-day processing.
