The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced a second round of lottery selection for H1-B cap visas for the fiscal year 2024. Via their website, they said “We recently determined that we would need to select additional registrations to reach the FY 2024 numerical allocations. Soon, we will select additional registrations from previously submitted electronic registrations using a random selection process. We will announce once we have completed this second selection process and have notified all prospective petitioners with selected registrations from this round of selection that they are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for the beneficiary named in the applicable selected registration.”
An initial lottery was held in March 2023 for the fiscal year 2024 H-1B cap, including for beneficiaries eligible for the advanced degree exemption. The agency has determined that another lottery is needed to meet the fiscal year 2024 cap. USCIS will select additional registrations from those previously submitted electronically. The initial filing period for those with selected registrations for fiscal year 2024 was from April 1, 2023, through June 30, 2023.
New H-1B visas are capped at 85,000 each year, a number that includes 20,000 reserved for workers with advanced degrees. These visas have a duration of three years with an option to extend for another three.
Key beneficiaries of the H-1B visa program are those in the tech and engineering sectors. The upcoming second round lottery selection process may prove useful to students who are already in the US and are waiting to transition to an H-1B cap visa.
The last year in which multiple lotteries were held was 2021.
Those with whose registrations are selected will have their myUSCIS accounts updated to include a selection notice, which will include details of when and where to file.
Speak to an Employment-Based Immigration Attorney
Please contact one of our employment-based immigration lawyers to hear more about the H-1B visa and other options for hiring foreign-born employees. Our team of immigration attorneys has over four decades of experience assisting employers and employees with employment-based visas and will work tirelessly to address your needs.
Contact us today with any questions regarding the H-1B Cap registration process.
