On April 7, 2016, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received:

USCIS will reject any H-1B petitions received after April 7, 2016 that are subject to either the FY2017 cap or the advanced degree cap. For more information, see USCIS: H-1B Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Cap Season.

This is the fourth year in a row that the H-1B statutory and advanced degree caps were exhausted during the initial five-day filing period. It continues the trend that existed before the economic recession began in 2008, with a limited number of employers able to secure H-1B status for employees and a large number of employers foreclosed from the H-1B category for 18 months or more.

All petitions received between April 1 and April 7, 2016 will be entered into a computer-generated random selection process, known as the lottery. USCIS will first randomly select the 20,000 petitions for the advanced degree cap. Any advanced degree petitions not selected will be part of the random selection process for the statutory cap of 65,000 for FY2017. USCIS is not yet able to announce the date of the lottery, given the high number of petitions received, and is not currently providing the total number of petitions received. USCIS previously announced that premium processing of cap-subject H-1B petitions will begin no later than May 16, 2016.

For information related to FY2017 H-1B filings, see Legal Update, Be One With the H-1B: New H-1B Filings for FY2017 Begin April 1st.

USCIS will continue to accept petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. H-1B petitions exempt from the cap include:

For more information on the H-1B cap, see Practice Note, The H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Classification.

Update: On April 12, 2016, USCIS announced that it completed basic intake and the random selection process of the more than 236,000 H-1B petitions submitted during the April 1 to April 5 filing period. Petitions that were not selected in the lottery will be rejected and returned to the petitioner or the petitioner's counsel if a G-28 notice of representation accompanies the petition. USCIS will accept petition fees only if the petition is accepted in the lottery, or for a rejected petition if duplicate petitions were filed.

The number of petitions received this year was more than 3,000 more than received in FY2016, and set a new record (see Legal Update, USCIS Reaches H-1B Statutory Cap for FY2016). This ever growing pressure on the H-1B nonimmigrant visa classification presents a significant issue for employers that rely on the H-1B to hire and continue the employment of foreign professionals. Employers should identify workers who need and cannot obtain H-1B status as soon as possible, and identify a strategy for each worker. For more information, see Legal Update, Don Your Thinking Cap: Employer Options When the H-1B Cap is Reached.

Update: On April 20, 2016, USCIS announced that for two weeks after premium processing resumes for H-1B cap-subject petitions, it will not use pre-paid mailers to send out final notices for premium processing H-1B cap-subject petitions. Instead, due to resource limitation, it will use regular mail. After the two week period, USCIS will resume sending out final notices in the pre-paid mailers provided by petitioners.

Update: On April 22, 2016, USCIS announced that the 15-day processing period for premium processing service for cap-subject H-1B petitions, including advanced degree exemption petitions, will begin on May 12, 2016, regardless of the date on the Form I-797 receipt notice.