The following is not legal advice.  Please consult a ualified immigration lawyer for advice on your partiular legal matter. 

The H-1B cap for FY 2009 is once again expected to be exhausted by the end of next week.  Petitions for cap-subject H-1Bs will be accepted as of April 1, 2008.  I suggest overnighting petitions so that they are received by the appropriate Service Center on that day.  If you are filing a petition, it is imperative to make sure that there are no errors that would cause the petition to be denied or rejected after being selected due to an avoidable error.  Double-check the following before filing:

1.  Is the USCIS address to which the petition is being sent correct?  There are PO Boxes for regular mail and Street addresses for acceptable courrier deliveries. 

2.  Has the H-1B Data Collection Supplement been properly completed to ensure that organizations or beneficiaries that are cap-exempt or subject to the US Masters Cap be counted as such?

3.  Are the filing fees correct?  Remember the training fee and anti-fraud fee must be included in addition to the filing fee for most petitions.  Including separate checks for each fee rather than one check for the total amount may be a good idea because if one of the checks s not required, the USCIS may (or may not) simply return the unnecessary check rather than reject the entire petition.

Of course, the underlying petition should be for a Specialty Occupation position for which the beneficiary is qualified.  Other than that, get it in on time, cross your fingers, don’t step under a ladder and hope for the best.  

It is surreal that our immigration system has become a lottery for skilled workers that US organizations would like to hire legally.  What a mess!