• At this time of year, it is very difficult to predict.
• At least 25 to 27 percent of increase in cases last year – and this is just for the regular case.
• My prediction is that about 220,000 to 225,000 applications that are submitted this year.

Raw Transcript:

Jacob: Hello everybody, welcome to Ask an Immigration Lawyer Podcast. You ask, we answer, simple.

Today’s question we are very, coming close to the filing deadline for H1B visas. I’m getting a lot of questions about the predictions. How many cases are going to be filed? As you know there’s only 65,000 regular H1B available plus 20,000 Master’s Cap. Last year almost double the amount of cases were filed so … People just want to know how many cases will be filed this year prediction-wise. Is it more or less than last year?

Obviously at this time of year it’s very difficult to predict. Immigration, USCS are not releasing any statistic [unclear 00:00:50]. But I can tell you – looking at our office this year and last year –I would say at least 25, 27 percent increase in cases from last year. And this is just a regular case. Not double filing, not people that are filing … One applicant whose filing two employers. Is it brand new cases? Almost 27% increase in filing from last year.

So, my prediction will be probably about 220,000 – 225,000 applications submitted this year, at least. So it’s going to definitely be a very busy, busy year. A lottery will be in place so we’ll update you on that as well. But that’s kind of my prediction for this and we’ll update you in the next few months as far as when the lottery will start, when we’re going to start getting our first cases returned.

So, that’s kind of my prediction. At least 25%, 27% increase from last year. So hopefully that answers some of those questions. You ask, we answer, simple. Keep sending those questions, we love to answer them. Remember, this is not legal advice; we’re doing it as a service to the public. If you have any specific questions please consult a qualified immigration attorney. Thanks for listening.