USCIS began sending receipts last week.
By Global India Newswire
WASHINGTON, DC: The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began processing H-1B cases under the premium-processing service on Monday.
Under the premium-processing service, the agency, which oversees all legal immigrations to the United States, guarantees a processing time of 15 days. The fee for the expedited service is $1,225.
The USCIS began sending receipts for H-1B cases filed under the premium-processing service last week, according to immigration lawyers and law firms. The Murthy Law Firm, which is based in Owings Mills, MD, wrote on its website that it started started receiving receipt notices via email April 9.
The agency announced in March that it was temporarily adjusting the premium-processing process this year due to “the historic premium processing receipt levels, combined with the possibility that the H-1B cap will be met in the first 5 business days of the filing season.â€
The USCIS announced April 5 that it received enough H-1B visa applications to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 for fiscal year 2014, and that it will use a computer-generated process to grant the visas. The agency also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions from those who have advanced degrees from U.S. universities. In all, the agency received roughly 124,000 H-1B applications.
It was the first time in five years that the cap was reached within the first week of the filing period.
The selection for applicants under advanced degree exemption is being conducted first. Those not selected under this category will now get another chance as part of the general selection process.
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