Are you ready for the upcoming H-1B Lottery season?

Number of H1B visas issued each year

• The maximum number of H1B visas that can be made available on an annual basis is 65,000 under the regular cap, with an additional 20,000 visas available to applicants holding a Masters’ degree.
• 6,800 out of the regular quota are also reserved for citizens of Chile and Singapore as part of a specific Free Trade Agreement.

How the Lottery works

• The regular cap lottery will be conducted first, followed by the U.S. master’s cap lottery. The new drawing order is said to give individuals with a U.S. master’s degree a higher chance of being selected.
• The number of annual registrations made during the registration window typically is far more than the annual cap level and the number of available visas.
• The window remains open to registrations for the full stated period, even after the cap has been exceeded. Selection is not on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Once the window is closed, USCIS carries out the H-1B visa lottery to identify which registrations will be invited to the next stage. This is a random selection process of registrations received during the window, neither determined by when the registration was submitted nor by assessing the merits of the registration.
• Once the 65,000 H1B cap has been filed, 20,000 petitions will be randomly selected from the master’s Cap petitions. Any of the 20,000 that are not selected will go back into the regular cap.
• Successful registrations are then notified and invited to submit their full H-1B petition within the specified deadline, which is usually 90 days from notification.
• Remember that selection in the visa lottery does not guarantee the visa will be granted. The petition will be assessed based on visa requirements and eligibility criteria.