H-1B Cap Selection Process for Fiscal Year 2020 is Complete

On May 17, 2019, USCIS announced that it completed data entry for all H-1B petitions filed in the 2020 cap and that some cases will be transferred to different service centers after receipts are issued. The transfers will depend upon the workload of individual service centers. If you have an H-1B that was filed without a request for premium processing, there is a possibility that a receipt may still arrive over the next several days; however, keep in mind that the filing fee checks would have already been cashed if the petition was selected in the lottery.

For those petitions not selected in the lottery, USCIS will now begin returning all petitions, including the uncashed filing fee checks. This process normally takes several weeks after USCIS announces the completion of data entry. If your H-1B cap subject petition is not selected in this year’s USCIS lottery, please contact our office to determine whether you have additional options. Please read this article for a review of some alternatives if your H-1B was not selected in the annual lottery this year.

Additionally, as of May 20, 2019, USCIS will accept premium processing requests for petitions chosen in the lottery that requested a change of status but did not concurrently request premium processing with the initial filing. For all other cases, USCIS has indicated they may later allow for premium processing, but not before June 2019.