U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) hasjust announced that it has received nearly233,000 H-1B petitions during the April 1-7 filing period.  This figure includes both regular H-1Bcap-subject petitions and H-1B petitions filed for the advanced degreeexemption.  This is the largestnumber of H-1B cap-subject petitions ever received.  About 36% of the H-1Bs will be accepted and 64%will be returned. 
Earlier today, USCIS used a computer-generated random selectionprocess, or “H-1B lottery,” to select enough petitions to meet the 65,000general-category cap and the 20,000 cap under the advanced degree exemption.USCIS will reject and return all unselected petitions with their filing fees,unless the petition is found to be a duplicate filing. 
It is expected that it will take until mid-May before the H-1B lotterywinners and losers are notified.  USCISwill begin premium processing for H-1B cap cases no later than May 11,2015.