The H1-B quota registration is complete

The United State Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) recently announced that it completed H1-B lottery registration for the fiscal year 2023 (FY2023). The agency received 483,927 registrations and selected 127,600 of them. This number represents the projected number needed to fill the quota. Despite the allocation not increasing for FY2023 (it has been 85,000 since 2004), there was a 56% increase in registrants.

Selection process

The selected number is a 46% increase over last year’s initial selection process, thus reducing the likelihood of subsequent selections – FY2022 had additional selections in July (27,717 selections) and November (16,753) for a total of 131,970. The short explanation for the additional rounds of selections was the pandemic and the difficulty of travel.

Registrants and their authorized representatives can now complete the electronic registration process by providing some basic information for each requested worker and the employer. A random selection process will further reduce the number to the target of 85,000 selected registrations (65,000 regular and 20,000 with a Master’s degree or above).

Notification of selection

Those selected are notified through their myUSCIS accounts, which will contain a selection notice. If there are subsequent selections, the USCIS will return to the quota pool of unselected registrants. The notice in the myUSCIS account will include instructions on where and when to file.

Other options available to prospective immigrants

The H1-B visa is one of the most common – and coveted – work visas in the U.S. This is one of the visas intended for applicants with “specialized knowledge.” However, it is far from the only option to gain entry into the country.

If you were not accepted from the upcoming H1-B selection period, it can pay to discuss other visa options with an experienced immigration lawyer. For instance, you may be eligible for the L1-B – which is also a type of specialized knowledge visa, an intracompany transfer visa or a business visitor visa. A lawyer can work to understand your situation and determine which options may be the most viable for your situation.