By Vickie Li and and Julie Kang 

 

The H-1B visa, the most popular employment based non-immigrant visa, may be issued to a foreign national coming into the United States temporarily to perform services in a professional occupation.  There are only 85,000 H-1B visas (variously called H1B, H1b, h1b) issued each fiscal year, of which 20,000 are for foreign nationals who have obtained an advanced degree from a U.S. university or academic institution. 

 

For the 2009 fiscal year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) received approximately 163,000 H-1B petitions in the first five days of the eligible filing period (April 1, 2008 – April 7, 2008), nearly double the number of visas available.  Consequently, the CIS implemented a random selection process (“lottery”). 

 

By this time, selected H-1B petitioners should have received Receipt Notices dated no later than June 2, 2008.  A select number of cases have also been placed on a “wait-list” as possible replacements for petitions that are denied, withdrawn or otherwise found ineligible.  Those individuals not selected in this lottery will have to explore other employment based visa options or wait and try again next year.

 

To see the CIS Press Release that further explains the process, click here.

 

Vickie Li and Julie Kang are immigration law attorneys with the Mikkelborg firm.  The firm has extensive experience in all aspects of immigration law.