USCIS Confirms H-1B Lottery Completed – Receipts Have Started Arriving

USCIS announced on April 7, 2017, that it has received enough H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 visas for fiscal year (FY) 2018. USCIS has also received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to meet the U.S. advanced degree exemption, also known as the master’s cap.

USCIS received 199,000 H-1B petitions during the filing period, which began April 3, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption. On April 11, USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process, or lottery, to select enough petitions to meet the 65,000 general-category cap and the 20,000 cap under the advanced degree exemption. USCIS will reject and return all unselected petitions with their filing fees, unless the petition is found to be a duplicate filing.

The agency conducted the selection process for the advanced degree exemption first. All unselected advanced degree petitions then became part of the random selection process for the 65,000 cap.

Check this for detailed instruction – Ultimate 2018 H1B Visa Guide

How to Check H1B Visa Status? 

The H1B visa is a job based, non-immigrant visa category for short-term workers. For H1B visa, an employer or sponsor company must offer a job and petition for your H1B visa with the US Immigration Department.

H1B visa status can be checked on United States Citizenship and Immigration Services website. However, in order to see the status update of your H1B visa application, you will need 13 digit receipt number.

What is a receipt number?

For every H1B visa application, the USCIS allocates a unique 13 digit alpha numeric number. In the USA there are 4 USCIS service centers for handling H1B applications. First 3 character of your receipt means the particular USCIS service center, where the petition is being processed. Your first three characters on H1B visa petition would be WAC, EAC, SRC, or LIN.

For example, a petition filed in Nebraska State will be having a receipt number starting with LIN.

H1B visa status can also be checked by calling USCIS Service Centers. Four USCIS service center telephone numbers are as follows. Keep receipt number ready before calling USCIS service center.

      • WAC–California Service Center (949) 831-8427
      • EAC–Vermont Service Center (802) 527-4913
      • SRC–Texas Service Center (214) 381-1423
      • LIN–Nebraska Service Center (402) 323-7830

 

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