Second FY-2025 Lottery by USCIS – In line with this new development, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) declared to conduct a second lottery for H1B applications. This decision is being made to satisfy the regular cap numerical allocation for the year, providing another chance at selection drawing from those applications that were not selected initially in the lottery held in March 2024.
H-1B Visa and Lottery System
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant work permit that allows U.S. employers to recruit and employ foreign professionals in specialty occupations requiring theoretical or technical expertise. However, the cap is met with high demand each year and more applications are received than there are allowed, under that statue since it took effect in 1990 – a nominally random method involving selecting applicants via lottery.
The first lottery for FY 2025 was held in March of 2024 where USCIS drew applications at random from the electronic registrations that had been submitted to it. This concerned the beneficiaries who were eligible to be counted for the advanced degree exemption, also called master’s cap. The first selection resulted in enough registrations to exhaust the available FY 2025 slots under the master’s cap, and are not planning a second round for this category.
Second Lottery for Regular Cap Details
The second lottery is for the regular cap, using all registrations submitted to date. Among these are those subject to both the regular cap and masters’ cap who did not win in lottery initially. USCIS identified the need for additional registrations based on higher levels of sourcing to meet FY 2025 regular cap, and drew a second random selection from among those original electronic registration that were submitted for unique beneficiaries.
These selected registrants will be eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition on behalf of the beneficiary listed in the registration. USCIS will be notifying petitioners of the selected registrations shortly but has not yet announced when this selection process is complete.
Filing Timeline:
The filing period for H-1B cap-subject petitions submitted from those selected in the initial lottery ran between April 1 and June 30,2024. Petitioners with selected registrations needed to have submitted their petitions during this window, as indicated in the registration selection notice. The second lottery will be based on the highest priority of selections, providing a new filing window for those selected to pursue their H-1B petitions within an allotted time frame. Registrants will receive communication through their USCIS online accounts that they are selected, and details continued to filing.
How does FND Overseas Education aid you in this process?
With the advent of a second lottery, it can be very complicated to apply for an H-1B visa. At FND Overseas Education, we are available 24/7 to help applicants with all the support and assistance throughout the H-1B visa process. Having a considerable exposure to visa and immigration services, FND Overseas Education Consultancy presents personalized solutions for you that would allow an extensive grasp of the nuances associated with the H-1B lottery system making sure you are ready completely in each aspect. Adhering to the official announcements by USCIS and following what reliable sources have updated so far will keep you on top of your game.
In simple terms, the second FY 2025 H-1B visa lottery program is set to provide recently turned professionals another shot at working within the US. And you are less likely to make the mistakes in the H-1B process, that might be best avoided with a little help from FND Overseas Education.
To get more details on the H-1B visa application, contact us today.
