iKey Points: The new selections were taken from H-1B registrations submitted in March 2023. Employers with selected registrations are eligible to move ahead with filing H-1B petitions between Aug. 2, 2023, and Oct. 31, 2023.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has completed the second round of H-1B cap lottery selections it previously announced late last month (USCIS to Conduct Second Random Selection from Previously Submitted FY2024 H-1B Cap Registrations | Inside Business Immigration (gtlaw-insidebusinessimmigration.com)).
FY 2024 H-1B Cap Lottery
USCIS received more than 780,000 (H-1B Electronic Registration Process | USCIS) H-1B registrations in March 2023 and more than half of eligible registrations were duplicate registrations naming beneficiaries with multiple employers submitting a registration on their behalf. USCIS completed its initial random selection of H-1B cap-subject registrations in March and the filing window for registrations selected in the first lottery was from April 1 to June 30.
USCIS investigated allegations of fraud in the H-1B registration process (USCIS Releases Numbers for H-1B Cap Registration; Includes Allegations of Misconduct | Inside Business Immigration (gtlaw-insidebusinessimmigration.com)) based on a high number of duplicate registrations. This second lottery selection therefore was anticipated to meet the FY2024 cap. USCIS confirmed on July 27, 2023 that a second H-1B registration lottery selection would take place (USCIS to Conduct Second Random Selection from Previously Submitted FY2024 H-1B Cap Registrations | Inside Business Immigration (gtlaw-insidebusinessimmigration.com)). On Aug. 1, 2023, USCIS announced that it completed the second lottery selection and notified employers that they are eligible to file H-1B petitions for selected beneficiaries.
As of now, USCIS has not provided any information regarding the number of H-1B visas selected in the second round. However, at GT, we observed that candidates with U.S. master’s degrees performed better than those under the regular cap. A third lottery remains a possibility, although uncertain. If it were to occur, additional selections likely would continue to be taken from the H-1B registrations submitted in March 2023.
