Time to Plan for the H-1B Cap

USCIS will begin accepting H-1B cases subject to the annual cap on Monday, April 1, 2019. 

It is nearly certain that all cap-subject H-1Bs for the entire year will be fully-subscribed by the fifth business days of April, as it was in each of the last 6 years.  If so, all cases received during the first 5 business days of April will undergo a random selection process to determine which cases will be processed and which will be returned (“H-1B lottery”).

What should companies do now?

If you have not already done so, send an email to your ILG attorney or paralegal listing the individuals your company will be petitioning for this year.  Include each beneficiary’s name and email ID so that ILG can start sending case initiation emails. 

If you have not identified the beneficiaries, but know the job title(s) and worksite(s) your company will be filing for, send an email containing the approximate number of petitions you plan to file for each position and worksite, and the wage range for each position.  With this information, ILG will prepare the Labor Condition Applications (LCA) in advance.  The LCA is a required document for every H-1B and must be prepared in advance of filing an H-1B.

F-1 Employees

Because your company may have hired F-1 graduates without utilizing ILG’s service, we may not know of some or all of your F-1 hires.  Therefore, be sure to list F-1 employees in your email to your ILG attorney or paralegal.  We need their names and email IDs to initiate their H-1B case.  

Finally, even for F-1 employees who are eligible for OPT work authorization beyond October 2020, we highly recommend petitioning for H-1B this April in order to have multiple tries in the “H-1B lottery”.  Demand for H-1B will exceed availability not only this year but also in the foreseeable future.

Other Considerations

In light of the likely rescission of H-4 EADs, employers should file H-1B change of status petitions for essential H-4 employees.  Also, employers should consider filing H-1B for employees in L-1, TN and other types of nonimmigrant status.