H1B Visa Lottery Process 2014

H1B Visa Lottery 2014 : H1B Visa 2014 Cap has reached its limit this Friday 04/05/2013. The History has repeated once again. This happened earlier in 2008, when USCIS accepted H-1B applications for Fiscal Year 2009. This post highlights the USCIS announcement on H1B cap and also describes the lottery process which would take place at the earliest in this month (April 2013).

Highlights from the USCIS announcement in regards to H1b Visa 2014:

• The USCIS received a sufficient amount of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for the Fiscal Year 2014.
• The USCIS also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions under the advanced degree category (Masters, PhD).
•  The USCIS has not yet revealed the exact count of applications received.
• No more H-1B petitions will be accepted by the USCIS for the Fiscal Year 2014 after the 5th April 2013.
• The USCIS will conduct a lottery or computer-generated random selection process  for all FY 2014 cap-subject petitions received through April 5th , 2013.

H1b Visa Lottery 2014 Process

Looking at what USCIS has done in the past during Fiscal Year 2009, here are the steps USCIS would take this year to select the applications, subject to cap to process for this year:

• Label Petitions with Unique Numerical Identifiers

The USCIS would first count the total number of applications received from April 1st, 2013 until April 5th2013. These petitions would be given a unique numerical identifier.

• First Lottery for Advanced Degree Category (20,000 petitions)

The first lottery or computer-generated random selection process will be conducted on the petitions qualifying for the 20,000 master’s degree or higher degree exemption (advanced degree). 20,000 petitions are selected from the total advanced degree petitions received by the USCIS.

• Second Lottery for General Category And Remaining Advanced Degree Category (65,000 petitions)

The second lottery is conducted on those  petitions which were not selected through the first lottery process (under advanced degree category), together with the general H-1B petitions for the 65,000 cap.

• Wait-listed Petitions

USCIS would “wait-list” some H-1B petitions, which may possibly replace petitions selected under the lottery for Fiscal Year 2014, but are  subsequently denied, withdrawn, or otherwise found ineligible. USCIS will retain these petitions until a decision is made whether they will replace a previously selected petition.  USCIS will send a letter to the wait list petitioners to inform them of their status.

• Selected Petitions List sent to Processing Centers

The list of the selected petitions is sent to the appropriate service centers for further adjudication of the petitions. The service centers would then continue with the final processing on those petitions.

• Selected Petitions Receive Receipt Letter

In regards to all the petitions selected  through the lottery process, the petitioners will receive a receipt notice, with the EAC Number, useful to track the status  of your petition.

• USCIS returns unselected Petitions With Fee

The USCIS will return those petitions not selected in the lottery to the respective petitioners along with the fee. It is also important to know that the duplicate filings will be returned without the fee.