Submissions for individual employees in the annual H-1B visa lottery declined significantly after the federal government updated the selection process for the specialty occupation visas this year.The total number of registrations during the FY 2025 H-1B cap registration period saw a significant decrease compared to FY 2024, according to USCIS. Additionally, the number of eligible registrations for FY 2025 visa lottery fell by nearly 39% from the previous year.
The updated USCIS rules based lottery selections on each individual beneficiary, rather than the number of registrations submitted on their behalf. For FY2025 only employers with selected registrations are allowed to file H-1B visa petitions.Last year a dramatic increase in duplicate submissions reflected the attempt by some companies to file multiple registrations for single workers according to USCIS. While beneficiaries can have multiple registrations made on their behalf by employers, they must be based on legitimate job offers.
The updated process increases the chance of an employer securing one of the 85,000 new slots available each year for H-1B visas. According to USCIS, this year only about 47,000 eligible registrations were submitted for foreign workers with multiple registrations filed on their behalf, compared to more than 408,000 in 2023. However, the number of unique beneficiaries and employers participating in the lottery this year was about the same as last year, per USCIS.
If you have any questions about H-1B visas or any other U.S. immigration-related issue, please contact us. We work with our clients to ensure they get the right advice based on their individual situations.
