Information About the (Possible) H-1B Lottery

Many of our clients have asked us whether there will be a lottery during this year’s H-1B filing season and if there will be one, how the lottery would work. Amid difficult economic times and increasing jobless rate, it is expected that the H-1B applications this year will be less than they were in April 2008.  However, many industries are recession-proof and in our practice we have actually seen an increase in the H-1B filings this year compared to last.

USCIS has confirmed that if it determines that there are sufficient number of H-1B applications during the first five business of April to reach the cap, then a lottery will be used to distribute the available visas among all petitions received during all five days.  USCIS will start issuing receipt notices once it has determined that that sufficient number of applications to fill the cap have been received.  After the lottery is conducted, USCIS will issue receipt notices for all H-1B applications which were “picked” by the lottery and the receipt notices are likely to be dated April 8, 2009.

In the event that the H-1B cap is not reached during the first five business days in April, or until April 7th, USCIS will continue to accept H-1B petitions until the cap is reached.  Once the cap is reached, USCIS will conduct a “mini lottery” to distribute remaining H-1B numbers among the H-1B petitions received on the last day before the cap is reached.

It is difficult to predict whether the cap will be reached by April 7th or if not, when it will be reached.  USCIS has committed to providing timely updates on the cap status and we will provide immediate updates.  Please sign up for our newsletter to receive updates via email.