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H-1B Cap Random Selection Process Complete for FY 2019
June 12th, 2018
On April 11, 2018, USCIS completed its random selection process of H-1b cap petitions for FY 2019. USCIS received a total of 190,098 petitions, of which 94, 213 were filed for the 65,000 available regular cap visas, and 95,885 petitions were filed for the master’s cap of 20,000 visas.
The number of new H-1b petitions has fallen significantly since 2015, reflecting federal government efforts to curtail the use of H-1b employees assigned to third party job sites by several large IT consulting companies. Here are the numbers:
| Fiscal Year | Total Lottery-Subject H-1b Petitions Filed | Difference from prior year |
| FY2016 | 233,000 | up 26% |
| FY2017 | 236,000 | up 1.3% |
| FY2018 | 199,000 | down 15.7% |
| FY2019 | 190,098 | down 4.5% |
On May 15, 2018, USCIS completed data entry for all the petitions selected in their selection process, and USCIS has already started returning all unselected petitions with their filing fees and sending out receipt notices for the selected petitions.
The USCIS H-1b website page provides updates and additional information.
