H-1B Cap Lottery March 2023
What are your chances?
H-1B visas are temporary work visas for professionals. H-1B visas are visas sponsored by employers or in some limited cases agents. You cannot self-petition. H-1B visas are the most common work visa for international students seeking to stay in the United States after graduation of working using practical training (OPT and/or STEM OPT), but H-1B visas are also sought by candidates who have not studied at all in the United States.
Employers are permitted to register candidates for the H-1B cap lottery through March 17, 2023.
Let’s review the brief history of the electronic registration system to consider the odds of being chosen.
First, recall that the H-1B cap includes 65,000 new H-1B approvals for the “general cap” plus an additional 20,000 new H-1B approvals for candidates who qualify under the U.S. Master’s cap.
March 2020 was the first H-1B cap lottery run through the electronic registration system. So there have been 3 years of the electronic lottery system:
March 2020 = About 274,000 registrations.
In the first lottery drawing in March 2020, there were 106,100 cases selected.
In the second lottery drawing in August 2020, there were an additional 18,315 cases selected.
March 2021 = About 308,000 registrations.
In the first lottery drawing in March 2021, there were 87,500 cases selected.
In the second lottery drawing in July 2021, there were 27,717 cases selected.
In the third lottery drawing in November 2021, there were 16,753 cases selected.
March 2022 = About 483,000 registrations.
In the first (and only) lottery selection, there were 127,600 cases selected.
At this point, on March 10, 2023, there are LOTS of unknowns -
We don’t know how many people will register this year.
We don’t know how many will be selected in the initial selection process in March.
We also don’t know whether there will be a second lottery selection, although that seems unlikely as the calendar year 2020 and 2021 drawings were greatly impacted by the pandemic and the dynamic nature of staffing during those years.
Keep in mind: If there is a second lottery selection, there is nothing you have to do. If you register in March, then you will be automatically considered for all subsequent selection periods.
Given the low odds of being chosen, everyone seeking an H-1B in the H-1B cap lottery should be researching alternatives now.