On April 10th, USCIS released its latest figures for the Fiscal Year 2008 H-1B filings. According to USCIS, 119,193 of the H-1B petitions received on April 2nd and April 3rd are subject to the cap.

Furthermore, USCIS stated that approximately 12,989 petitions from April 2nd and April 3rd requested exemption from the Fiscal Year 2008 because they were filed on behalf of foreign nationals holding a Masters or higher degree earned from a U.S. institution. The press release from USCIS goes on to state: "USCIS can now announce that the cap of 20,000 on these exempt cases remains open and that USCIS will continue to monitor these filings."

We can confirm that our office has already begun to receive approvals of H-1B Masters cap exempt petitions. Obviously, if you are in a position to file for one of these petitions, there may still be time and the effort to file ASAP could well be worth it. On the other hand, it is important to note that this announcement was made on April 10th and only the dates April 2nd and April 3rd are mentioned in the count. It is anybody's guess whether perhaps enough cap exempt petitions were filed between April 4th and April 10th. In other words, although you may still have a chance to file one of these petitions, it would be unwise to think that this is a sure thing. As a matter of fact, we would caution that based upon USCIS' proven unreliability in counting petitions, even those who filed during the week of April 2nd should not assume that they will have their "Masters H-1B."

Finally, it should also be noted that USCIS has not announced when the random computer lottery for cap subject cases will take place