USCIS announced on Friday, March 27, 2020 that they had completed the H-1B lottery for the upcoming fiscal year. Each year, 85,000 visa numbers are available for individuals who are not already in H-1B status and who have been offered specialty occupation positions by U.S. employers. (Certain employers such as colleges, universities, government research organizations, or non-profit research organizations are exempt from this lottery.) 20,000 of these numbers are allocated to those with at least a U.S. Master’s degree. (Please note that of the total 85,000, 5800 however are reserved for those who are applying under the H-1B1 program – specialty occupation workers of Chilean or Singaporean citizenship. In theory, when these numbers are not used, they are returned to the H-1B pool.) Over the weekend, employers and their attorneys were informed of the results.
USCIS released statistics today indicating that there were nearly 275,000 registrations with 46% of the registrants with at least a U.S. Master’s degree. For more details, check out the link:
https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/fy-2021-h-1b-cap-petitions-may-be-filed-april-1
The above was provided for educational purposes only. Please contact Clark Lau LLC if you have any questions and how the above may apply to your specific circumstances.