Receipts, RFEs, and Approvals of FY16 H1B Cap Cases

Many are still anxiously awaiting the outcome of petitions filed against the fiscal year 2016 (FY16) H1B cap. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced completion of the lottery selection on April 13, 2015, followed by completion of the data entry process on May 4th. This naturally leads to questions regarding when all the selections and case results will be known.

H1B Receipt Notices for Premium and Regular Cases

Cap-subject petitions filed for premium processing that were selected in the lottery should have been issued receipt notices by now. The Murthy Law Firm began receiving eMail receipts notices for premium processing cases filed with the California Service Center (CSC) on April 14th. There was a delay in the issuance of receipts from the Vermont Service Center (VSC), due to a problem with that service center’s eMail system. In fact, the Murthy Law Firm began receiving paper receipt notices for premium processing cases filed with the VSC on April 17th, which was earlier than the VSC eMail receipt notices began to arrive.

The receipt notices for cases filed using regular processing began to arrive at the Murthy Law Firm on April 23rd. Regular (non-premium) cases are only issued paper receipt notices. As of this writing, these receipt notices continue to arrive, but the flow has tapered off significantly.

Approval Notices and RFEs for Premium Cases

The official 15-calendar-day clock for premium processing cases selected in this year’s H1B lottery began on April 27th. This is also the date the Murthy Law Firm first began to receive approval notices for premium processing cases, as well as a few requests for evidence (RFEs), which are inevitably issued on some petitions. With few exceptions, any cap case filed for premium processing that was selected in lottery should either be approved or issued an RFE by May 12, 2015.

Conclusion

Cases filed under premium processing are progressing quickly, as required under the 15-day regulation. Many cases filed for regular processing have been receipted, but could continue to trickle in through sometime next week. MurthyDotCom will report when the Murthy Law Firm receives the first returned package for a case not selected in the lottery.

Copyright © 2015, MURTHY LAW FIRM. All Rights Reserved