On April 13, 2020, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that petitioners can expect a delays in data entry and the issuance of receipt notices for fiscal year (FY) 2021 H-1B cap-subject petitions until at least May 1, 2020, due to the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Petitioners are still eligible to file cap-subject petitions, and should note that the June 30, 2020 filing deadline for such petitions has not changed.
The USCIS has indicated that although the data entry and receipt notice issuance will be delayed, petitions will continue to be stamped with the receipt date that the petition is received by the service center, and this receipt date will be reflected on the receipt notice.
In addition to the delays to data entry and receipt notice issuance, the USCIS has also already indicated that the general processing of cap-subject petitions will be delayed as a result of COVID-19.
While the USCIS’ announcement only addressed the anticipated delays to FY21 cap-subject H-1B petitions, it is also very likely that these delays will spread to most other routine applications and petitions, as our firm has already observed delays in the issuance of receipt notices.
Read the official USCIS announcement here.