USCIS had earlier announced that it has temporarily suspended the premium processing of H-1B visas.
The United States Citizen and Immigration Service (USCIS) has announced that it has wrapped up the data entry of H-1B petitions that are subjected to this year’s cap. The applications were selected through the computer generated random process.
USCIS also announced that the applications that were not selected through the random selection process will be returned, beginning from Wednesday. The agency has confirmed that it cannot specify a definite date for the return of these rejected petitions as they are high in volume.
USCIS said that the petitioners should not inquire about the status of their petitions until they receive a receipt notice or the returned petition. According to a USCIS news release, the agency will issue an announcement after all the unselected petitions have been returned.
In order to balance the distribution of petitions that come under the cap, USCIS will transfer some of the Form I-129 petitions from the Vermont Service Center to California Service Center. The applicants whose petitions have been transferred will be intimated through an email notification. Thereafter, the petitioners should send all future communications to the center that is processing the petition.
In March, USCIS announced that it has temporarily suspended the premium processing of H-1B visas, including cap-subject petitions, for six months. As this processing remains suspended, petitioners are not permitted to file Form I-907 requesting for premium processing. Any application filed for premium processing of Form I-129 will be rejected by the USCIS.