Although it is not a surprise, the USCIS announced on April 7th that it reached the H-1B cap for fiscal year 2018 – both the regular cap and “Master’s” cap. As usual, the USCIS will reject and return filing fees for all unselected cap-subject petitions – unless any of those petitions are duplicate filings.
We do not yet know how many Cap H-1B petitions were received by the USCIS during the 5-day filing period.
The USCIS will continue to accept H-1B petitions that are not cap-subject to:
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Extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the United States;
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Change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;
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Allow current H-1B workers to change employers; and
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Allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.
The Premium Processing suspension for any H-1B cases remains in effect.