iOn April 13, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, data entry and the generation of receipt notices would be delayed until at least May 1, 2020, for fiscal year (FY) 2021 H-1B cap-subject petitions.
The following is a summary of the key information provided by USCIS:
-
USCIS will not immediately begin data entry for petitions received during the H-1B filing window that began on April 1, 2020, and runs for 90 days.
-
Each petition will be stamped with the date it was received at the service center.
-
Once data entry commences, USCIS will process petitions in the order of receipt.
-
The 90-day filing window remains unchanged. All FY 2021 H-1B cap petitions must be received by June 30, 2020.
-
Petitioners are encouraged to wait to inquire about their case status with USCIS until they have received a receipt notice.
-
Employers can expect a “general delay” in the processing of FY 2021 cap-subject H-1B petitions.
USCIS stated that it was “mindful” of cap-gap petitions and other petitions with sensitive expiration or start dates. The agency stated that it would process those petitions as “efficiently as possible.”
