USCIS Completes the H-1B Cap Random Selection Process for FY 2019

On April 11, 2018, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had completed its fiscal year 2019 computer-generated random selection process to meet the statutory H-1B cap for regular H-1B petitions (65,000) and those filed under the U.S. advanced degree exemption (20,000). For Fiscal Year 2019, the USCIS received 190,098 H-1B petitions.

USCIS selects H-1B petitions filed under the advanced degree exemption first. Thereafter, unselected advanced degree petitions become a part of the random selection process for the statutory 65,000 cap. In due time, the USCIS will issue receipt notices for those petitions selected in the Fiscal Year 2019 H-1B lottery and return all unselected petitions with their filing fees.