On April 10, 2019, United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) received sufficient H-1B petitions to meet the 20,000 H-1B visa quota for U.S. advanced degree holders (or "master's cap") for Fiscal Year 2020, which begins on October 1, 2019. USCIS confirmed receipt of 201,011 H-1B petitions during the filing period (up from 190,098 in FY 2019), resulting in a 42% chance of selection overall, with slightly higher mathematical odds for U.S. advanced degree holders. Previously, on April 5, 2019, USCIS announced that it had received sufficient H-1B petitions to meet the regular H-1B cap. This completes USCIS' H-1B petition selection process for FY 2020.

USCIS has already started issuing receipts for selected petitions. However, adjudications are not anticipated until mid-May 2019 for change of status petitions filed via premium processing, and likely later for those filed without premium processing  Seyfarth Shaw will continue to monitor correspondence for all petitions filed by the Firm and will notify clients accordingly.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.