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UNITED STATES – It’s H-1B lottery time!
January 13, 2025
The H-1B is a nonimmigrant visa that allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers for specialty occupations. A specialty occupation requires the application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and the attainment of at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent. The H-1B program is intended to help employers who cannot otherwise obtain people with the required skills and abilities from the U.S. workforce by authorizing the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the United States.
The pre-registration process will be in early March 2025. To ensure that your employees are entered by the deadline, information about your company and employees should be submitted by the end of January.
Why is there a H-1B lottery?
The H-1B visa is very popular and utilized by many U.S. companies. As the U.S. government only allocates 85,000 H-1B visas a year, a lottery mechanism for all eligible candidates is used to select recipients. Each year, 65,000 of the 85,000 H-1B visas are available for individuals with bachelor’s degrees, and the remaining 20,000 H-1B visas are reserved for individuals who hold a U.S. master’s degree or higher from an accredited institution of higher education.
Who should be entered into the lottery?
We suggest that all U.S. employers review their foreign national populations to determine who is eligible to enter the H-1B lottery. The following employees should be considered:
- Employees who are recent university graduates employed in F-1 OPT status.
- Employees in the United States pursuant to TN, E, or O status and who will eventually seek lawful permanent resident status in the United States.
- Employees in the United States, pursuant to L-1B nonimmigrant status, who are near their five-year max out date.
- Employees in the United States pursuant to H-4 EAD status or other dependent work authorization.
Please note that some nonprofit and research institutions do not need to participate in the H-1B lottery to obtain an H-1B. Please get in touch with us to learn more.
What else should I know about the H-1B process?
- The government H-1B registration fee per registrant for Fiscal Year 2026 is $215.
- If your company has never sponsored an H-1B Visa, it is not too late to register for this year’s lottery!
For more information, please get in touch with us at [email protected].
This immigration update is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for legal or scenario-specific advice. Furthermore, it is important to note that immigration announcements are subject to sudden and unexpected changes. Readers are encouraged to reach out to Newland Chase for any case- or company-specific assessments.
