On May 17, USCIS announced completion of data entry for all fiscal year 2020 H-1B cap-subject petitions selected in its computer-generated random selection process. USCIS will now begin returning petitions that were not selected. USCIS will issue another announcement once it has finished returning all petitions that were not selected. As has been the case in the past, due to the high volume of petitions received, USCIS cannot provide a definite time frame for returning unselected petitions. USCIS asks petitioners not to inquire about the status of their cap-subject petitions until they receive a receipt notice or an unselected petition.

As also has happened in the past, USCIS may transfer some Form I-129 H-1B cap subject petitions between the Vermont Service Center and the California Service Center to balance the distribution of cap cases. If a case is transferred, the employer should receive notification in the mail and should direct all future correspondence to the center processing the petition.

Because premium processing for 2020 H-1B cap subject petitions was available for certain petitions, USCIS will begin issuing decisions or requests for evidence on those petitions filed via premium processing. Hopefully, this will alleviate the processing time delays that plagued last year’s H-1B cap subject adjudications, some of which were not adjudicated until around Spring 2019. Anyone who has not filed a request for premium processing of their H-1B cap subject petition may now file such request.