More than 163,000 H1B visa applications received

163,000 H1B visa applications received including 31,200 advanced degree H1B Visa applications. I personally like the last year rule better; first come, first serve. This year, because USCIS wait 7 days to stop taking more applications so even you submitted on April 1, you will have the same chance to be eliminated with people who submitted on April 7. In other words, for advanced degree petition, unless first day USCIS reach 20,000 cap, you will get H1b visa for sure if you submitted on April 1 or maybe even April 3. It is pure luck whether you get H1B visa or not when you submitted application during these 7 days.