The results are in! USCIS received 199,000 petitions during the first week of April. With only 85,000 H-1Bs allotted, the chance of a petition being selected was less than 43%. Admittedly, this is a simple statistical analysis. Of the 85,000, 20,000 are reserved for beneficiaries with a master’s degree, and these cases go through the first round of the lottery. The master’s degree cases not selected are then placed into the second round of the lottery with the non-master’s degree cases. Thus, beneficiaries with a master’s degree get “two bites at the apple.” But even if you use our rough statistic, Rose Immigration clients generously beat the odds. Sixty percent (60%) of the petitions we filed for our clients were selected in the lottery. We are proud of the outcome. Even better news – we have already begun receiving Approval Notices for some of the cases we filed.
If you have not heard from us by now, chances are your petition was not selected. Bear in mind, however, that last year in early October some employers received notification that their case had been selected. We assume this is due to the fact that when cases are denied, USCIS goes back to the pool and selects replacements.
If we have not notified you by now that your petition was selected, contact us for a brief planning strategy to confirm the next step to take to protect the immigration status of your employees. If your case was selected, we will look forward to planning the next immigration process for your valued employees. Keep in mind that discrimination over immigration status is against federal law. All in all, it was a good and relatively successful H-1B season, and we look forward to working with your clients to plan the next immigration move for their employees.