U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that petitioners should expect a delay in receipt notice issuance for fiscal year (FY) 2021 H-1B cap-subject petitions until at least May 1, 2020. This is due to the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
What Happened?
Effective on the first day of filing (April 1, 2020) USCIS said it will not do data entry right away for FY 2021 cap-subject petitions. This is due to the COVID-19 pandemic and health and safety protocols. USCIS has advised that data entry and notice generation will be delayed until at least May 1, 2020.
USCIS has also indicated that there will be a general delay in processing FY 2021 cap-subject petitions, and once data entry resumes, processing will happen in the order petitions were received at the service centers.
Who Does This Impact?
This update impacts employers who submitted FY 2021 H-1B cap-subject petitions for an employee and were selected in the lottery.
While USCIS said this only applies to cap-subject petitions, GIA does believe all other cases are facing a delay as well, and petitioners should not expect a receipt notice to arrive until 3-4 weeks after the employer's case for the employee was submitted.
How are Envoy and GIA Responding?
Envoy and GIA are monitoring USCIS announcements related to this issue and will publish new information as it becomes available.
What do I need to do next?
GIA advises that employees monitor the case page for when their case number is inputted. This is an indication that GIA has received your notice. If you do not see a case number, this means GIA does not have your receipt notice.
Envoy is pleased to provide you this information, which was prepared in collaboration with Ryan Bay, who is a Partner at Global Immigration Associates, P.C. (www.giafirm.com), Envoy's affiliated law firm.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
