US to conduct the third lottery for H-1B visa
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The US has conducted a third H-1B lottery to select more H-1B Cap Cases to reach the numerical cap for fiscal 2022. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services said on Friday that it has determined that it needs to choose additional registrations to reach the FY2022 numerical allocations, including the advanced degree exemption.
“On 19th Nov 2021, USCIS selected from among previously submitted electronic registrations using a random selection process. The petition filing period based on registrations selected on Nov. 19 will start on 22nd Nov 2021, and close on 23rd Feb 2022. Individuals with selected registrations will have their myUSCIS accounts updated. To include a selection notice, which includes details about when and where to file,” it said in a statement.
USCIS to conduct third H-1B Lottery to select H-1B Cap Cases for FY2022
This is highly surprising, as typically the USCIS gets enough applications after the first round of selections is done. In July 2021, the US immigration agency had conducted a second random selection. As it hadn’t got enough applications after the first lottery. The USCIS follows an October to September year, and candidates selected for FY2022 would be eligible to start work from October 2022. Every year, the US issues 65,000 new H-1B visas. With another 20,000 reserved for candidates who have done their Masters in the US.
Earlier this year, the USCIS had conducted a second lottery to meet the numerical cap for FY2021. In no time before the filing window opened for the next fiscal. Earlier, the agency had said that it had gotten 2,75,000 petitions for FY2021, around 67% of which were for Indian candidates. However, once the travel and business shutdowns went into effect in April 2020. On account of the Covid-19 pandemic, a few employers did not go through with their visa filings, said, lawyers.
[H-1B visas in limbo amidst COVID-19 and lingering immigration policies]
“We conducted an initial selection in March 2021. The initial filing period for those with selected registrations for FY 2022 was from 1st April through 30th June 2021. Per guideline, we consider into account historical data related to approvals, denials, revocations, and other relevant factors. To calculate the number of registrations needed to meet the H-1B numerical allocations for a given fiscal year. Only those petitioners with selected registrations for FY 2022 are eligible to file H-1B cap-subject petitions,” it said in a statement.
