The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is set to conduct a lottery for selecting H1B visa beneficiaries, including those under the master’s cap for advanced degree holders. This follows the conclusion of the initial H1B sign-up period for fiscal year 2025 on March 25.
A technical issue on its website prompted USCIS to extend the visa application deadline for FY 2025 by three days, from March 22nd to March 25th, 2024. USCIS assured potential petitioners that they would be contacted regarding their selected beneficiaries and their eligibility to submit a petition under the H1B cap.
With businesses submitting more H-1B applications than the annual cap of 85,000, USCIS resorts to a lottery system to select recipients. Indian tech workers have dominated H-1B cap-subject visas in recent years, securing over 70% of the available 85,000 visas, including the 20,000 allocated for master’s degree holders.
In 2022, Indians obtained 77% of the 320,000 H1B visas awarded. USCIS anticipates approximately 350,000 applications this year, a slight decrease from last year due to intensified efforts to combat fraud. Out of the 759,000 registrations received last year, over 400,000 were duplicates.
Reports indicate a significant increase in USCIS filing fees, with a 70% rise for H1B petitions, a 201% increase for L-1 petitions, and a 129% hike for O-1 petitions.
Effective April 1, USCIS is relocating the filing location for H-1B Form I-129 to a lockbox. Henceforth, all paper-based petitions, including cap, non-cap, and cap-exempt H-1B filings, must be submitted at USCIS lockbox facilities, not service centers.
USCIS emphasizes that no grace period will be offered for H-1B or H-1B1 (HSC) petitions received at a USCIS service center on or after April 1, 2024. Petitioners must ensure proper filing to avoid rejection.
Furthermore, USCIS introduced “MyUSCIS,” an online organizational account allowing collaboration with legal counsel to prepare H-1B registrations, petitions, and related Form I-907. Online filing for non-cap H-1B petitions began on March 25, with selected petitioners eligible to file H-1B cap petitions online from April 1.
USCIS notifies petitioners of fee changes for most immigration applications and petitions effective April 1, 2024.