H1B 2018 Petition Counts Released

USCIS announced on April 7, 2017, that it has received enough H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 visas for fiscal year (FY) 2018. USCIS has also received 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. On April 11, USCIS 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. USCIS will reject and return all unselected petitions with their filing fees, unless the petition is found to be a duplicate filing.

Here is the lottery counts for previous years

Fiscal Year (FY)	Number of Applications Received	Visas Available	Number of petitions not selected in the Lottery
2018	199,000	85,000	114,000
2017	236,000	85,000	1,51,000
2016	2,33,000	85,000	1,48,000
2015	172500	85,000	87,500
2014	1,24,000	85,000	39,000
2010, 2011, 2012,2013	- No lottery -	85,000	Every petition considered
2009	163,000	85,000	78,000
2008	119,193	85,000	34193

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.

As announced on March 3, USCIS has temporarily suspended premium processing for all H-1B petitions, including cap-exempt petitions, for up to six months. USCIS 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.