Well the numbers are out, I lost my bet. I predicted 200,000 visa applications to be received. The actual numbers are lower. This reflects the low confidence employers put in this system.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced a preliminary
number of nearly 163,000 H-1B petitions received during the filing period ending on April 7, 2008. More than 31,200 of those petitions were for the advanced degree category.
USCIS expects next week it will conduct the computer-generated random selection process, beginning with the selection of the 20,000 petitions under the advanced degree exemption. Those petitions not selected under the advanced degree category will join the random selection process for the cap-subject 65,000 limit. USCIS will reject, and return filing fees for all cap-subject petitions not randomly selected, unless found to be a duplicate.