dagless

Hi all, hope you're good. I'm a brit with a job offer from a u.s. company and they've just submitted my application for an h-1b visa that would begin in october. Is anyone else in the same boat? Stressful huh?!

Some seem to think it'll be a lot easier this year, but when you're the one it involves it's hard to be too positive. Do you think it'll go to a lottery - I feel there'll be a big reduction in petitions but think there'll still have to be a lottery. Anyway, just thought I'd say hi as I embark on this journey of mystery....

Ray

Good luck to you .. I agree there will be a lot less applicant than previous years...

dagless

Thanks Ray - it's a real nail biter, but at least my company has gone for premium processing so I should know sooner than some. Hopefully I'll be a lucky one.

Definitely would be interested to hear if any other brits on here are applying.

Ray

Bound to be a few .. but mostly Indian it seems to me ..

Meryl

I'm applying, fingers crossed it's 2nd time lucky for me- good luck to everyone else who is too

memiek

The company my husband is working for is applying....3rd time now and if not successful, we will probably just move on to New Zealand or something else. Its getting a bit ridiculous to go about the whole visa applying process 3 times in a row.

But yes, it is stressful, waiting to see at first if the applications on the first couple of days will exceed the 65.000 or not. If not, then the chances of getting the visa are so much better..

(1st - april 2007, first time H-1b lottery)
(2nd - july 2008 L-1b - denied due to poor written application)
(3rd - H-1b again, now)

cryos

I have an offer from a company who has applied for a H-1B for me too. No premium processing as far as I know, so my wait may be quite a bit longer. Fingers crossed - going to be a very uncertain summer...

caleyjag

My company has applied. I'm in the same boat. They've applied for the O1 too but that's even harder to get.

I'm hoping, like you, that the H1s are easier to get this year. It's very stressful. If I fail on the O1 (likely) and then don't get the H1 lottery, I think it will be off to the JobCentre in Inverness for me

I've worked hard for years to get to this stage, so I'm very worried!

meauxna

You can always be my houseboy, caleyjag.
The pay's not great, but we can arrange an Evil Laboratory for your experiments.

cryos

I am pretty much in the same boat as you caleyjag. They might pursue an O1 if the H-1B lottery doesn't come up, but I am 29 and finishing my first postsdoc... Good luck - hopefully we will both get some good news soon!

malj

Well, the key date is April 7 - if the quota has not been filled by that time, all petitions received by then will be processed for approval. I believe, on the day that the quota is reached, a lottery will be held for all of those petitions received on that particular day. So far - so good - nothing from USCIS - however, the next two days will be key. Personally, I think all of us in the H1-B process who were filed before April 7 will get approved this year. You would think, that the first couple of days of April would have been sufficient time to receive more than 65,000.

dagless

I really hope you're right - I just can't imagine there being a 50% reduction in applicants from last year though. I really hope you prove me wrong.

As for the lottery, it's all very confusing. I was under the impression that they will accept petitions up to April 7th even if they are far outnumbering the quota? Hmm, probably not worth worrying about!

malj

Correct. They have a 5 day window for accepting petitions. During this time, if they receive more than 65,000 applications, they will conduct a full lottery of all petitions received during those 5 days. If however, April 7 passes and they have not received 65,000 applications, they will begin to process all of those applications received until April 7. I believe from there in that case, they will continue to receive and process applications until the cap is met. To ensure fairness, the day that the cap is reached, USCIS will conduct a lottery for only those petitions received on that date. So in other words, if the cap is not met on Tuesday, and I suspect USCIS will make an announcement shortly thereafter, and one's petition meets all of the requirements, one should be successful. Of course, there is no telling if the cap has already been met - USCIS will make an announcement following the 5 day window. So all there is to do is wait!

caleyjag

Gah. You were getting my hopes up there!

So basically just gotta hold on for a few more days. Hope the lawyers have not cocked up my application somehow!

memiek

Let's rephrase that a tiny bit to processed for approval, denial or RFE. It's not said that, if there is no lottery to be held after April 7 that all petitions received will automatically be approved.

Further on a possible lottery: If after the first 5 business days (hence April 7 and not April 5) more than 65.000 petitions have been received, a lottery will be held. If also more than 20.000 Master Degree cap petitions have been received, there will first be a lottery for the Master cap and everyone not selected in that lottery will automatically enter in the standard 65.000 cap lottery. Meaning that you stand a better chance of you have a US master degree (2 possible lotteries instead of 1).

Anyway..... its killing me. I am on the edge of a nervous breakdown if this continues any longer Its time for my life to follow some direction again instead of just waiting on the USCIS and lawyers....