H-1B cap registrations increase by 57% to stand at 4.83 lakh for fiscal 2023
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The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) got 483,927 H-1B cap registrations this fiscal (period ending 30th September 2023), an approximate 57% increase over the fiscal 2022 filing season.
Of these registrations, USCIS has chosen 127,600 registrations (26% of the total registrations got) to meet the H-1B quota – different features. For example, if the sponsoring employer does not proceed with the actual filing process for the visa. The possibility of denial of the visa is factored in.
Immigration law firm – Berry Appleman and Leiden point out that USCIS selected significantly more registrations in the initial lottery. Then last year when it chose 87,500 registrations and subsequently conducted two additional lotteries.
The annual quota for H-1B cap visas is 85,000 which includes 20,000 visas. That is allocated under the master’ cap for those beneficiaries having advanced degrees from US universities).
For the fiscal 2023 filing season, registrations were submitted by more than 48,000 prospective petitioners. And roughly 31%of the eligible registrations requested were for the master’s cap.
An Increase in H-1B cap registrations by 57% for fiscal 2023
Sponsoring employers whose registrations have accepted the need to file the visa applications by June 30 – the close of the filing season. This will be followed by processing of the applications including calling for more information – if need be. The earliest the selected beneficiaries (H-1B cap workers) can commence work under this visa in the US will be October 1.
If the number of visa applications got by June 30 falls short of the yearly quota for fiscal 2023, a second lottery could be conducted.
The H-1B registration process was introduced for the time in 2020. Under this process, sponsoring employers who look to employ H-1B cap workers (referred to as beneficiaries). First, complete an online registration process that requires only basic information about the prospective worker.
[May 2022 Visa Bulletin Predictions]
A lottery (aka random selection process is then carried out) and H-1B cap visa applications have to be filed only in respect of the selected beneficiaries.
For fiscal 2022, USCIS had gotten 308,613 H-1B cap registrations and at first, chose only 87,500 registrations. Which were projected as needed to reach the yearly quota. However, owing to low filing volumes, a second lottery was held in July 2021. Based on the original registrations and an extra 27,717 registrations were chosen. This was followed by a third lottery in November 2021, with a choice of 16,752 extra registrations.
