Labor Immigration Law

We have received some inquiries from clients regarding the FedEx service disruption and how it may affect the H-1B filings. We wanted to address the issue and hopefully allow concerned H-1B petitioners that the disruption should not affect their petition.

As many readers already know, the FedEx Memphis hub and flight operations experienced substantial disruptions on the night of March 31 and the morning of April 1 due to heavy rain and thunderstorms. As a result, FedEx suspends the delivery guarantee for packages intended to be delivered on April 1. FedEx news release.

There are many rumors indicating that H-1B packages which were routed through Memphis will not make it on time for the H-1B filing window. This is not true. While it is true that H-1B application packages routed through Memphis may not be delivered on April 1st, FedEx’s operations are back to normal and they should be delivered on April 2nd. In addition, USCIS has expanded its initial H-1B filing window to 5 business days, so that any H-1B applications received within the first five business days are treated as received on the same day.

Due to the restored FedEx service and the 5-day filing window, we are confident that all of our clients’ H-1B filings will be received on time for consideration by the USCIS.