USCIS announced earlier this week that data entry for all H-1B petitions selected in this year’s lottery has been completed. USCIS will now begin returning all H-1B cap-subject petitions that were not selected and will issue an announcement once it has finished returned all H-1B petitions. USCIS declined to provide a definite time frame for returning unselected petitions.

If you have not yet received a receipt notice for your H-1B petition, two ways to determine whether your petition was selected (or not) is 1) to see if the checks for the government filing fees filed with your petition have cleared; and 2) if you are an international student in F-1 status, your SEVIS record should show that you have been selected in the lottery. Otherwise, if you have no news by early June, it is likely your petition was not selected and you should start exploring any alternative visa options for employment in the U.S.

This alert is for informational purposes only. Please contact us if you would like to discuss this development further.