The initial registration period for the H-1B visa lottery is open and will run through noon Eastern Time on March 22, 2024.
The lottery is held annually when the demand for H-1B work visas is greater than the number available. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) allots 85,000 H-1B visas— 65,000 plus 20,000 for advanced degree holders from U.S. universities. When the number of applicants exceeds those totals, a lottery selects at random applicants who will be eligible to apply.
In recent years, there has been so much demand USCIS has changed this year’s lottery to make it more “beneficiary-centric,” as they put it. H-1B visas are used by employers to bring highly skilled foreign nationals to the U.S. to work for them, and when the electronic application process became easier in 2020, employers began filing multiple applications for the same employee.
This year, all the applications filed on behalf of an applicant will be treated as one entry in the lottery, even if the applications came from different employers. According to the Department of Homeland Security, “If a beneficiary is selected, each registrant that submitted a registration on that beneficiary’s behalf will be notified of the beneficiary’s selection and will be eligible to file a petition on that beneficiary’s behalf during the applicable petition filing period.” Applicants in this situation would decide which employer to go with.
Employers interested in bringing employees to the U.S. on H-1B visas should register as soon as possible through the H-1B visa’s electronic portal. If they’re unsure how to proceed or have questions, they should contact an immigration attorney with experience with H-1B visas and the lottery.
Photo by Alejandro Garay on Unsplash.
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