If you are looking to sponsor an H-1B employee this year, you still have a chance. But don’t delay! The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced yesterday that it will accept H-1B visa petitions filed during the first 5 business days of April.
Therefore, as long as your H-1B petition filing is received by April 7, 2015, you still have a chance at being selected in the lottery (i.e. the computerized random selection process used by USCIS to fill the H-1B CAP).
As discussed in our February 17th bLAWg post, the H-1B CAP is the available quota of new H-1B visas for each fiscal year. USCIS will accept 85,000 H-1B petitions in the CAP, with 20,000 being reserved for U.S. Master’s degree recipients. Premium processing (i.e. expedited processing, which results in a quicker case decision in 15 days) is available on the petitions for an extra $1,225.00 fee.
Should you decide to file your H-1B petition using premium processing, you will not necessarily have a better chance in the lottery; however, you will know whether your petition has been selected much sooner. USCIS announced on March 12, 2015 that it will begin processing selected premium petitions no later than May 11, 2015.
Willing to try your luck in the H-1B lottery? Contact GoffWilson today for assistance. We are here for you.