H-1B Petitions Remain Unadjudicated Before October 1

October 1 is exactly one week away, and there are many H-1B applicants who have already had their petitions approved and are waiting eagerly the start of their H-1B period.  However, there are a number of applicants who have been picked in the lottery but have not yet received anything from USCIS regarding their H-1B application.

The USCIS has released some numbers showing the status of H-1B adjudications.   Under the regular cap, USCIS accepted 71,000 petitions and under the master’s cap, USCIS accepted 22,000 petitions.  As of September 17, 2008, 59,100 petitions under the regular cap have been approved and 9500 remain pending. 19,500 petitions under the master’s cap have been approved and 2100 remain pending. This accounts for 92% of the regular cap allotment being reached already and 97% of the master’s cap.

95% of the regular cap petitions have been touched and 94% of the master’s cap petitions have been touched. That leaves 3500 petitions untouched for the regular cap and 1400 untouched for the master’s cap. USCIS expects to get to all of them shortly, but it may not be by October 1.

These numbers should provide some comfort to those who have not yet received their H-1B approvals, but they should be aware that USCIS will most likely not be able to process all of these untouched 5,900 petitions  before October 1.