The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, there would be data processing delays for the H-1B FY 2021 cap season. The 90-day filing period began on April 1.
According to the stakeholder message, USCIS:
- Filings received since April 1, when the FY 2021 cap-subject filing period began, will not be immediately processed. Data entry and notice generation is delayed until at least May 1.
- USCIS will complete intake processing in the order in which petitions are received at service centers.
- Though the delay in data entry and notice generation will cause a general delay for processing FY 2021 cap-subject petitions, the filing window will not be changed.
- The agency acknowledges the time-sensitive nature of certain petitions and will strive to process these petitions as efficiently as possible.
The agency asks that petitioners wait to inquire about the status of their petition until they’ve received a receipt notice. USCIS may transfer some I-129 H-1B cap-subject petitions for adjudication between the service centers to enhance efficiencies. If a case is transferred, petitioners will be notified by mail.
As previously reported, last month USCIS announced the suspension of premium processing for H-1B cap-subject petitions for FY 2021.