• Institutions of higher education, as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. 1001(a);]
• Nonprofit organizations or entities related to or affiliated with institutions of higher education; and
• Nonprofit research organizations or governmental research organizations, as defined in 8 CFR 214.2(h)(19)(iii)c).
Such institutions and organizations can indicate that the H-1B filing is cap exempt by marking Form I-129 (Petition for Non-Immigrant Worker) with a “yes” answer to question 1, 2, or 3 in Part C of the H-1B Data Collection and Filing fee Exemption Supplement (page 10).
H-1B petitioners are now encouraged to use the following special mailing address for qualifying H-1B cap exempt petitions. To determine if your petition qualifies, please make sure your institution or organization fits one of the categories listed above.
For Direct Mail:
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
California Service Center
ATTN: CAP EXEMPT H-1B Processing Unit
P.O. BOX 30040
Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-3004
For non-United States Postal Service (USPS) deliveries (e.g. private couriers):
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
California Service Center
ATTN: CAP EXEMPT H-1B Processing Unit
24000 Avila Road, Room 2312
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
Each H-1B petitioner is encouraged to mark the outside of the envelope and the top margin of the I-129 form, with “EXEMPT”. This will ensure quick identification of the H-1B filing throughout the petition’s processing at CSC.
If a cap exempt H-1B petition is received at a different Service Center, that Service Center will expeditiously forward the petition to the CSC for processing. In the near future, USCIS will post special filing instructions to Form I-129 requiring all qualifying H-1B cap exempt petitions to be filed at the CSC.