U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year (FY) 2014. USCIS has also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption. After today, USCIS will not accept H-1B petitions subject to the FY 2014 cap or the advanced degree exemption.

USCIS will use a computer-generated random selection process (commonly known as the “lottery”) for all FY 2014 cap-subject petitions received through April 5, 2013. The agency will conduct the selection process for advanced degree exemption petitions first. All advanced degree petitions not selected will be part of the random selection process for the 65,000 limit. Due to the high number of petitions received, USCIS is not yet able to announce the exact day of the random selection process. Also, USCIS is currently not providing the total number of petitions received, as we continue to accept filings today. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap.
USCIS will provide more detailed information about the H-1B cap next week.

We are disheartened to see that USCIS is not basing their count on a first come first serve basis.  If the cap is open and your case is received before the cap is exhausted, you should be guaranteed that your case has been accepted for processing.  We are not in favor of the computer-generated random selection lottery approach that USCIS has taken this filing season, where all cases received through April 5th will be put into a lottery.  This creates tremendous uncertainty for employers who planned in advance…Just another sign that we are seriously in need of H-1B reform and a process that permits business and the economy to regulate the process.

We will keep you posted as more information is released.