H-1B lottery completed for 2018 fiscal year
On April 7, 2017, USCIS announced that it had received enough H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 visas for fiscal year (FY) 2018 including a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to meet the U.S. advanced degree exemption, also known as the master’s cap. USCIS received 199,000 H-1B petitions during the filing period, which began April 3, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption.
USCIS has announced that on April 11, it used a computer-generated random selection process, or lottery, to select enough petitions to meet the 65,000 general-category cap and the 20,000 cap under the advanced degree exemption. The agency conducted the selection process for the advanced degree exemption first. All unselected advanced degree petitions then became part of the random selection process for the 65,000 cap. USCIS stated that it will reject and return all petitions not ultimately selected in the lottery process.
USCIS also stated that it will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. Petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap will also not be counted towards the congressionally mandated FY 2018 H-1B cap. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions filed to:
- Extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the United States;
- Change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;
- Allow current H-1B workers to change employers; and
- Allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.
Glitch with form I-9, employment eligibility verification (11/14/2016)
USCIS advised that, if an employer has used forms I-9, employment eligibility verification (11/14/2016 N) that it downloaded between November 14, 2016 and November 17, 2016, the employer should review them to ensure that the employees’ Social Security numbers appear correctly in section 1. There was a glitch when the revised form I-9 was first published on November 14, 2016. Numbers entered in the Social Security number field were transposed when employees completed and printed section 1 using a computer. For example, the number 123-45-6789 entered in the Social Security number field would appear as 123-34-6789 once the form printed. USCIS repaired and reposted the form on November 17, 2016.
Employers who notice their employees’ Social Security numbers are not written correctly should have their employees draw a line through the transposed Social Security number in section 1, enter the correct Social Security number, and then initial and date the change. Employers should include a written explanation with form I-9 about why the correction was made in the event of an audit.
