On January 27, 2011, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that, as of January 26, it has received more than enough H-1B petitions to meet the numerical limit for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 cap-subject H-1B visas. In addition, USCIS announced that it has also received more than 20,000 “U.S. Masters” H-1B petitions, filed on behalf of individuals with U.S. advanced degrees. No more cap-subject H-1B petitions will be accepted by USCIS for this fiscal year, which expires September 30, 2011.

USCIS indicates it will now begin executing the computer generated random selection process (lottery) for all cap-subject petitions received on January 26, the date USCIS calculates the cap was reached (petitions received prior to January 26 will receive a receipt and will be adjudicated by USCIS). This random selection process is to determine which cases are accepted toward the remainder of the H-1B visas. Only those cases that win the lottery will receive a receipt from USCIS. All other cases will be returned along with the filing fees.

Any cap-subject H-1B petitions received by USCIS after January 26 will be returned and associated fees remitted.

USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions filed for the following...