NewsFlash! Updated H1B Count - April 6, 2007Posted Apr 06, 2007

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The USCIS has released a report dated April 5, 2007, of its current count of H1B petitions received on April 2 and 3, 2007. The report indicates that, during the first two days of filing, the USCIS received 133,000 H1B petitions. This is lower than its original estimate of 150,000, but still greatly exceeds the annual limit of 65,000 for regular H1B visas.

Cap Counts

The USCIS is still sorting through all the petitions to determine which cases are subject to the regular cap, which are eligible for the 20,000 advanced-degree exemptions, and which may not need a cap number. Of the cases sorted as of Wednesday, April 4, 2007, 28,052 petitions were subject to the FY2008 regular cap and 4,703 were eligible for one of the 20,000 advanced-degree exemptions. The USCIS has promised updates as they complete the sorting process.

Lottery

As MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers know, the USCIS will conduct a computer-generated, random selection of cap-subject petitions received on the first and second days of filing after the sorting process is complete. Please note that the term "lottery" in this context does not mean a separate process for H-1 eligibility. It is simply the manner by which the USCIS will allocate the limited H1B cap numbers among the petitions that were properly filed on the first two business days of filing for FY2008.

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