H1B petition arrived at service center after June 30th

[nicole.werner5]

Hello,

The lawyer informed my company today that my H1B petition got denied as it was filed after the deadline. The lawyer said that it was sent in on time and that they can prove mishandling by the carrier. The lawyers says that they can withdraw my current H-B petition and submit a new one.

1) If the lawyer can prove that my petition was delayed due to the carrier, will USCIS have to accept my petition and treat it as filed on time?
2) Will my petition be treated as a completely new one meaning, will I have to wait for weeks again to get my receipt number? We were waiting for over 7 weeks and never received the petition number. Not sure now if that was due to the fact that they received the petition after the deadline.

[R78]

From a USCIS standpoint, carrier delays are not their concern. It must be received by them on time. No different than election mail not received by the county on time.

1) If the lawyer can prove that my petition was delayed due to the carrier, will USCIS have to accept my petition and treat it as filed on time?
Under normal circumstances, NO. Considering Covid, they may. This is a lengthy & expensive process.
If they accept, they would use the original date.

2) Will my petition be treated as a completely new one meaning, will I have to wait for weeks again to get my receipt number? We were waiting for over 7 weeks and never received the petition number. Not sure now if that was due to the fact that they received the petition after the deadline.
Yes, if you decide to just file a new petition, you would have to wait for the receipt. Best option is to premium process as you'll get a much faster response and decision (assuming no RFE's)