The H-1B filing period for Cap Cases (Fiscal Year 2017 Cases) was open from April 1 to April 7, 2016. GLF filed most of its H-1B cap cases (95%+) on the very first day, April 01, 2016. The remaining few cases were filed by GLF April 4 to April 6, 2016. On April 7, 2016, USCIS announced that it had received enough H-1B cases toward the 65,000 general category cap as well as the 20,000 Master’s cap. As such, USCIS stopped accepting new H-1B cases after April 7, 2016.
On April 12, 2016, USCIS announced that it had received over 236,000 H-1B petitions during the filing period. This volume is very similar to last year, when USCIS received 233,000 H-1B petitions. Based on a comparison to last year’s data, we anticipate that the average acceptance rate will be about 39% (greater than 1 in 3). Master’s cases will have a slightly higher acceptance rate compared to general category cases, but the two will average out to about 39%.
GLF has started receiving premium receipts as of Monday (April 11, 2016) and we will be forwarding the same to employers only on a daily basis. USCIS has said they will begin premium processing no later than May 16, 2016; although we anticipate it will be sooner than that, as we have started receiving the premium receipts and the timeline is 15 days from the notice date for adjudication.
On non-premium cases, we urge employers to check if their filing fee checks has been cashed and that is often the quickest way to find out if your case has been selected – it is faster than waiting for the physical receipt notice to arrive by USPS.
GLF will provide an update on all selected and rejected cases in the next 4-8 weeks. Please stay tuned and we will send out periodic updates as and when we receive additional information from USCIS. GLF had an extremely busy H-1B cap season (busiest ever!) and we sincerely appreciate your support — THANK YOU!!