Update on FY 2009 H-1B Processing

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services continues to work on Fiscal Year 2009 H-1B petitions.  The Vermont and California Service Centers were to have finished premium processing cases that were chosen in the lottery by the end of last week, but it is not yet clear whether that goal was reached.   Filing receipts for non-premium processing cases are expected to be issued by June 2, 2008, though California Service Center receipts could be issued earlier.

At recent meetings with the American Council on International Personnel (ACIP) and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials provided an update on the processing of Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 H-1B cases at the Vermont and California Service Centers.   Specific information about case processing at each Service Center is provided below.  Employers and foreign nationals should be aware, however, that processing target dates are fluid and subject to change as each Service Center progresses through its workload.

The Vermont Service Center (VSC) received approximately 60% of the FY 2009 H-1B filings and the California Service Center (CSC) received 40%.  As of the end of last week, both Service Centers were to have finished working on premium processing cases that were selected in the lottery, but it is not yet clear whether they actually met that goal.

The VSC has reportedly issued receipts for all non-premium advanced-degree cases that were chosen in the lottery and expects to finish receipting all other regular processing cases by June 2, 2008.  The CSC has finished issuing receipts for all non-premium cases chosen in the lottery; it is expected that petitioners will begin to receive those receipts in the coming days.

By the end of June, the Vermont Service Center expects to notify petitioners whose cases were not chosen in the lottery, as well as those whose cases were placed on the cap number waiting list.  As previously reported, USCIS will place a limited number of filings on a waiting list in case a petition selected in the lottery is withdrawn or denied and a cap number subsequently becomes available.  The California Service Center expects to issue these notifications by late May or early June.  The VSC has not yet provided a target date by which it expects to finish adjudicating non-premium cases, but the CSC expects to complete non-premium cases by the end of June or early July.

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