H1B 2009: USCIS received 163,000 H1B Petitions in 2008

USCIS announced today that it received about 163,000 H1B petitions for year 2009 that starts from 1st of October 2008. About 31,200 of those are for Advanced Degree category.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced a preliminary number of nearly 163,000 H-1B petitions received during the filing period ending on April 7, 2008. More than 31,200 of those petitions were for the advanced degree category. USCIS expects next week it will conduct the computer-generated random selection process, beginning with the selection of the 20,000 petitions under the advanced degree exemption. Those petitions not selected under the advanced degree category will join the random selection process for the cap-subject 65,000 limit.

Read the announcement here. (PDF)

If you have filed under Advanced Degree Exemption (20,000 Visas), You have much better chance of receiving a H1B:

For 20,000 limit for Advanced degree holders, if cap is reached within the first five days, random selection will be carried out in two phases. Lottery will be first conducted ONLY for advanced degree holders first (for 20000 applications). And include all those that are not selected in the lottery for the 65000 cap along with regular applicants. Read the updated Rules.

If you are a student on F1:

If you are a student on F-1, you may be able to work for 29 months on OPT before you get employment under H1B. That may ease the pressure on H1B just a bit and give a much better chance for Students in Maths/Engg/Technology streams in US Universities to take employment in US. Read more.

Now its official, it will be a lottery

Now its totally official looking at the numbers that Random Selection or Lottery will be used to pick petitions that will be accepted. In general, every petition has about 50% chance of getting accepted.  Good Luck to you all.

USCIS will approve a little more than 65000 + 20000

At least a few thousand more applicants, in addition to the Congressional mandated cap of 85,000, in both categories, would receive approval notifications on their petition for H-1B visa.

A USCIS spokesperson told NDTV.Com that the number of petitions approved by the agency would be much more than the Congressional mandated cap of 85,000 H-1B visas in both the categories.  This, the official said, would give the State Department, which issues the visas through the American embassies and consulates worldwide, enough cushion to ''reject or deny'' H-1B visas to those applicants who are found to be ineligible or those whose paper work are deficient.

''We try to accept enough petitions, so that the State Department would have no problem in filling up the 65,000 seats plus 20,000 for those having Masters in the US. By doing so, we try to make sure that all the visas would be issued,'' the official said. ( Source : NDTV)

Comments

[...] 2009 that starts from 1st of October 2008. About 31,200 of those are for Advanced Degree category. Read more. It will be a lottery to accept petitions. I wish you all good luck to you. So, to answer my [...]
omar said…
hi,
how will i know if i was accepted (got luck enough) into the 20000 positions? they will contact me via e mail? letter? is there any web site where i can look for results of the lottery?
thanks
oavaralba@hotmail.com
ved said…
--When will they conduct lottery for Advanced degree holders.-- And how will I know that my petition has been accepted.--
Jasuja said…
Hi,

How will I know if I was accepted and lottery result position? Is there any site where i get the latest update on H1 B visa ?

Thanks
IO said…
Hi all,

I got the "selected for processing" news in 24 April. This means, I was selected by the lottery. I received the "approval" news in 28 April.

All these news I've got straight from my company (as forwarded emails from USCIS Vermont and the company H1B lawyers). My company filled my H1B petition under PP.

Good luck to all of you.
IO
IO said…
Ah, I've forgot to mention, I've also received a receipt number, based on which I can do an online status check on USCIS (the status says "Approved ....")

IO
Vineela said…
Hi
How will we know whether we are selected in the random selection done by INS?
vijay said…
Hi
I have applied for H1B this year. I heard that lottery system was conducted on 14th April 2008. Still I didnt get any receipt number. When will I get? My application is not under premium processing.

Thanks in Advance
Nivar said…
I have a question. I have got multiple petitions filed for myself by more than one employer. Does this affect the probability of the petition being picked or its completely illegal? Some one Please confirm.
IO said…
Nivar,

NO. It is NOT illegal.

The new rules clearly stipulates that it is illegal for the SAME employee to be filled multiple petitions from the SAME employer. For example, company X filled for employee Y multiple petitions.

However, it is NOT illegal, if for the SAME employee are filled multiple petitions coming from DIFFERENT employers : like it's your case, and mine also (and one of my petitions is already approved). For example, it is perfectly legal, if employee Y has one petition from company X1, and also another petition from company X2 (and so on X3,X4,X5 .....).
However, only if one of those employee filled for you multiple petitions, you will have problems (probably only related to that employee).

Good luck.
IO
bhagirath said…
Hi,
i still waiting for confirmation......did any one get confirmation? best of luck,those who got it. Is there any way to know whether my aplication is selected or not?
Kirtan said…
Hi All,

I have applied for this year with Consulting company but when i called my employer they told me to wait for two weeks which already past. No news.

Anyone who is getting Receipt or Approval Please keep Posted here so that everyone can know the updates.

thanks.
MDN said…
Hello everyone,

If your filing center is Vermont and if you have not received any notice from USCIS, there is no cause for alarm. I spoke with the Vermont Service Center today and they are still in the process of eliminating the duplicate filings and they said that the receipt notices OR rejection letters would be mailed in the first week of June. So until then, relax. No reason to worry.
RAJ said…
does getting a recipt number mean the application is approved..........pls share the information....thanks
Amarendra pattnaik said…
My employer has filed h1b for me, still i havn't got any reply whether i have selected or not. When should be the last day by which all results are published any URL to check this by putting receipt no. or by name.

Amarendra
RAJ said…
H-1B Visa Lotteries Conducted, F-1 OPT Extended for Qualified Students and Employers


U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services conducted a computer-generated random lottery April 14 for 20,000 masterâ??s cap exemption cases. A subsequent lottery for the remainder of advanced U.S. degree petitionsâ??together with the general H-1B pool of petitions for the regular capâ??has also been conducted.

USCIS announced last week it had received enough cap-subject H-1B petitions to meet the annual cap of 65,000 H-1B visas for fiscal year 2009. An additional 20,000 H-1B visas available under a cap exemption for individuals who obtain an advanced degree from a U.S. college or university was reached. In a preliminary count, the agency estimated nearly 163,000 H-1B petitions were received during the filing period. More than 31,200 of these petitions were for the advanced degree category, according to USCIS.

The 15-day premium processing period commenced April 14. Receipt notices for cases selected in the lottery for full adjudication and without a request for premium processing should be received by petitioners no later than June 2.
MA said…
Got a recipet number from my consultant , but the status shows as Pending approval when checked online ...What does that mean .
fed said…
Since it is already on the 2nd week of june and still haven't received any confirmation or apporval, does this mean that you are not included in the ramdomly selected individual for H1b visa. Please enlighten me on this matter.

Thanks,
Fed
Sumit said…
Since it is already on the 3rd week of june and still havenâ??t received any confirmation or approval, does this mean that you are not included in the randomly selected individual for H1b visa. Please enlighten me on this matter.
mare said…
Heck if I know what is going on. I applied on April 1st.
All my friends have heard something and I still have not received a receipt number.
I am curious as well if from now on we are only going to receive bad news?
I don't understand the lottery is over and they had said by June 2nd. Why is it taking so long to get back to people. Can't they just publish all the results and get it over with?
fed said…
This is what I have read from USCIS re status of H1b visa updates.

Sunday, June 15, 2008
USCIS Update on FY2009 H-1B Cap-Subject Filings
By admin @ 6:11 AM :: 21 Views :: 0 Comments :: News, H1B Visas
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has announced that, except for cases being reviewed as potential duplicate filings, all receipts have been issued for cases selected in the random lottery. The California and Vermont Service Centers finished entering data on all selected cases by May 23, 2008, and mailed all receipts by May 24, 2008.

Cases that were thought to be duplicate filings (approximately 500 petitions) are being hand reviewed. Some were submitted as "protective filings" due to courier delivery confirmation problems, or where the petition was sent to an incorrect Service Center. Each will be reviewed and determined on a case-by-case basis. If an appropriate explanation was submitted with the duplicate filing, there is a good chance of acceptance.

The USCIS has determined that the number of petitions selected during the random selection process will be sufficient to meet the cap limit. Rejection notices began being mailed out this week.
foreignlover said…
Hi,
Can anybody tell me, why none of the petitions starting with EAC-08-157-XXXXX is not processed? That series contains petitions which were received (Receipt Date) on May 13th. But people who have receipt date as May 14th, (i.e., after May13th) have received Approval Notice. But why not May 13th petitions? The petitions are with Vermount Centre.

Thanks
Foreign Lover
satish pandey said…
Hi All,Got a recipet number from my consultant , but the status shows as Approved and its valid from Oct,2008.But my name or other details related to me is not displaying on the USCIS website.How can i make sure that this receipt belongs to my name only.Pls help anyone regarding the same.
hye

i got a job in us company. but i have only b1 visa. urgenty i want h1b visa.at first what can i do? kindly give me a details urgently?

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