U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the FY2015 H-1B cap has been met. USCIS further noted that the number of petitions filed under the Master’s cap also exceeds the 20,000 limit for the U.S. advanced degree exemption.
USCIS will complete initial intake for all petitions received during the filing period before conducting a lottery to determine which petitions will be accepted under the cap. Due to the high volume, the date on which the lottery selection process will begin has not yet been determined.
USCIS will conduct the selection process for the Master’s cap first. All advanced degree petitions not selected under the initial Master’s cap lottery will eligible for the random selection process for the 65,000 Regular cap. A computer-generated process will randomly select the number of petitions needed to meet the Regular cap of 65,000 visas and the Master’s cap of 20,000 visas. Cap-subject petitions not selected under the lottery will be rejected, and USCIS will return all filing fees, unless found to be a duplicate filing.
EIG will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates as they become available. The full USCIS press release can be found at http://www.uscis.gov/news/uscis-reaches-fy-2015-h-1b-cap.