H-1B lottery/random selection

Rajiv's Article - Decoder: Could multiple H-1B lottery petitions be filed for the same employee? - The Economic Times

4 years ago By Chief Editor

Published by: The Economic Times - Date: March 03, 2021

Synopsis

Often, multiple employers are competing to hire the same employee. It is obviously in the best interest of an employee to have multiple filings because that increases their chances of being selected in the electronic selection system (lottery). And equally obviously, this could amount to an abuse of the system if there were no checks on multiple filings.

For more details please see the attachment below.

Read more about Rajiv's Article - Decoder: Could multiple H-1B lottery petitions be filed for the same employee? - The Economic Times

Rajiv's Article - This year's H-1B lottery: The Trump legacy of chaos must end - The Economic Times

4 years ago By Chief Editor

Published by: The Economic Times - Date: January 07, 2021

Synopsis

For this year (FY 2021-22), the USCIS has attempted to change the lottery selection process to favor the highest paid employees first. That change is embodied in a proposed regulation, which can be published as a final rule any time.

For more on this article please see the attachment below.

Read more about Rajiv's Article - This year's H-1B lottery: The Trump legacy of chaos must end - The Economic Times

H-1 Lottery Over

12 years ago By Rajiv S. Khanna

We have just received our first H-1 quota receipt notice. That indicates the H-1 lottery is concluded.

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USCIS Reaches Fiscal Year 2026 H-1B Cap

4 months ago By Chief Editor

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received enough petitions to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for fiscal year 2026.

USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. Petitions filed for current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap, and who still retain their cap number, are exempt from the FY 2026 H-1B cap. USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions filed to:

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FY 2026 H-1B Initial Registration Selection Process Completed

8 months ago By Chief Editor

Release Date

03/31/2025

Read more about FY 2026 H-1B Initial Registration Selection Process Completed

H-1B cap exempt visa pros and cons

9 months ago By Chief Editor

Question details

I am on OPT, which started on 19th February 2024. I joined my first job on OPT on 8th July 2024 and lost one attempt at the H1B lottery. I work for a research foundation, and they can sponsor me for an H1B-exempt visa. I have a degree in computer science, and I ultimately want to work in corporate America, which means I need to get an H1B cap-subject visa.

My question is whether I should get this H1B exempt visa through my current organization or if I should try to switch to a different company and use my remaining two attempts at the lottery. I ask this because once I get the H1B exempt visa and change my status from F1 to H1B, I won’t be able to switch to a for-profit organization and would be stuck in H1B exempt visa category. H1B-exempt visa jobs are less and pay less. And though the option of an H1B concurrent visa is there but I feel in reality, it will be challenging to get a company to allow me to work for another company due to NDA requirements and also allow part-time work. (But I would appreciate your advice on this since you must have had client experience.)

Can you advise me on how to get the H1B exempt visa now? Does it have any advantage, given I want to transition to a corporate company? What options will I have if I switch to a for-profit organization? Also, I am currently funded through a grant, and it has runway till July 2026.

I have seen people saying not to get an H1B exempt visa as you will be stuck in that category, but I also feel that any H1B visa will be better than F1.

FAQ Transcript

If you have the opportunity to get an H-1B cap-exempt visa through a research foundation, you should take it. Having cap-exempt H-1B status does not prevent you from continuing to apply for the regular H-1B lottery.

Additionally, you can hold both a cap-exempt and a cap-subject H-1B concurrently as long as you maintain your cap-exempt job. If you win the H-1B lottery through a for-profit employer, you can easily switch to a regular H-1B.

Taking the cap-exempt route ensures immediate work authorization and does not limit future opportunities. The idea that you’ll be "stuck" in cap-exempt status is incorrect.