U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that on April 12 it conducted the computer-generated random selection process to determine which H-1B petitions, subject to the congressionally mandated H-1B cap for fiscal year 2008 (FY 2008), would continue to final processing. USCIS completed this determination ahead of the preliminary schedule noted on April 3, when it announced it had received enough petitions to meet the cap for FY 2008.
The 123,480 cap-subject petitions received on April 2 and 3 were labeled with unique numerical identifiers and selected randomly by computer. The chosen numerical identifiers were then transmitted to the appropriate service center for further processing.
Applicants who submitted properly filed petitions that are accepted for adjudication will receive a receipt notice. USCIS has advised that receipt notices dated on or before April 12, 2007 are not to be considered evidence that the case was selected in the random selection process. All petitions not chosen will be returned with the fee(s) to the petitioner or their authorized representative. The total process is expected to take approximately four weeks.
For the cases initially filed for premium processing, the 15-day premium processing period begins on April 12, the day petitions were selected through the random selection process.
Michelle, Chicago
