Maybe this is why we have a sloooooooo down.

[etripke 0]

I heard this mentioned before but I'm sure that some may have missed it. If you you have read this before, my apologies:

Breaking News: FY 2008 H-1B Cap Reached in One Day on April 3, 2007

The USCIS announced that as of today, April 3, 2007, they have received 150,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions and as such the H-1B cap has been reached. As such, the USCIS will use a random selection process for all cap-subject filings received on April 2, 2007, and April 3, 2007. In other words, no cap-subject case is safe and guaranteed of a spot!

USCIS indicates that it will reject all cases received on or after April 4, 2007. In light of the high volume of filings, USCIS will not be able to conduct the random selection for several weeks.

However, USCIS does not know how many of the 150,000 are cases for aliens with US-earned masters~{!/~} or higher degrees. The first 20,000 H-1B petitions for such aliens are exempt from any fiscal year cap. USCIS will make a future announcement regarding the final receipt date for these petitions.

[etripke 0]

Additional information is posted here on the USCIS website. It appears that they updated the Cap information yesterday and shows they must be working these applications really hard:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

Edited April 26, 2007 by etripke

[lucho562 0]

What are H1b cases?

[TimsDaisy 0]

H1B is a type of visa for skilled workers (think tech guys). They are coveted and only a specific amount are offered per (fiscal) year. Generally, they run out very quickly (as evidenced in that announcement).

[lucho562 0]

Thanks for the info TimsDaisy, congrats on the touch.

[etripke 0]

What are H1b cases?

The H1B is the Non-Immigrant Worker Visa. These are more of a specialty Visa which brings in the higher educated workers to the US for jobs. They are valid for a 6 year period (usually) and since they play a roll in our economy they do have priority over any family based petition. They are accepted 180 days in advance of the of the new fiscal year (October 1st) and by the looks of it, are sent with pretty good timing to arrive right on April 1st and 2nd. There is a limit on how many of these the USCIS will accept, and it is first come first serve.

So, one could assume that they were slammed pretty good at the beginning of April. Add to the fact that these petitions can have the "Premium Processing" fee added, and that puts a 15 day deadline on the processing time for the petition. I think that it is reasonable to assume that they MUST prepare for the increase in receipt of petitons knowing that this is going to happen. I would speculate that they reassign personnel as needed and tackle the problem that way. What was noteworthy was the USCIS link I posted indicated they did do a count on the advanced degree petitions which is needed to be done for the cap. So, I guess they are working them and hopefully things will speed up a bit afterwards.

I know that many VJ'rs have been concerned about this slow down, myself included, but now I think this explains a lot (in my mind anyway) as to why the sudden stop. (lack of NOA1's for sure given they are swamped in the mailrooms)