The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Friday key changes to the H-1B lottery for Fiscal Year 2025, including a beneficiary-centric selection process for H–1B registrations; start-date flexibility for certain H–1B cap-subject petitions; and codification of the agency’s ability to deny or revoke H-1B petitions where the underlying registration or petition contained a false attestation or was otherwise invalid.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is authorized to grant up to 85,000 H-1B cap-subject petitions per fiscal year, of which 20,000 are set aside for foreign nationals who have earned a U.S. master’s degree or higher. However, since at least 2008, the demand for H-1B employees has regularly exceeded the statutory limit. In FY 2024 alone, USCIS received 758,994 H-1B registrations. Accordingly, when demand is high, the USCIS conducts an H-1B lottery.
In recent years, after H-1B registrations are received and the USCIS administers the lottery, selected H-1B registrants are then invited to submit a complete petition for consideration by USCIS. (For a graph depicting the rise in H-1B petitions/registrations, click here. To learn more about H-1B petitions, relevant requirements and the history of the registration program, click here.)
Key Dates and Information for Employers
USCIS will open the FY 2025 H-1B cap registration period on March 6 and close it mid-day on March 22. During this period, prospective employers and their attorneys may use a USCIS online account to register each beneficiary for the selection process. USCIS will also launch new organizational accounts Feb. 28 which can be used for submitting both the registration and the H-1B petition for selected employees. Employers with previous myUSCIS accounts may merge existing accounts into an organizational account. For FY 2025, the registration fee for each beneficiary will continue to be $10, though H-1B petition fees will increase April 1.
A key change for FY 2025 is a beneficiary-centric selection process, in which each beneficiary will be entered into the lottery once, regardless of how many registrations are submitted on their behalf. If a beneficiary is selected, each employer that submitted a registration on that beneficiary’s behalf will be notified and eligible to file a petition on that beneficiary’s behalf. This new process will ensure that each beneficiary has the same chance of selection regardless of how many employers submit registrations on their behalf.
Identifying Candidates
To identify H-1B lottery registration candidates, employers should consider reviewing their current and prospective foreign national employee rosters, focusing on:
- Foreign students in the U.S. with F-1 status who are currently working or will be working for the employer utilizing their Optional or Curricular Practical Training (OPT or CPT) employment authorization
- Current employees working in other non-immigrant statuses who wish to change to H-1B status
- Former employees whom the employer would like to re-hire
- Prospective new hires, whether the individual is currently located in the U.S. or abroad
Exceptions to the Cap
As a reminder, not all H-1B petitions are subject to the annual cap. For example, H-1B petitions filed by higher education institutions, nonprofit entities related to or affiliated with a higher education institution, nonprofit research organizations and government research organizations are exempt, as are petitions for certain physicians. The H-1B lottery does not relate to current H-1B workers who require a petition extension or amendment or change of employer (unless the H-1B worker is currently working for a cap-exempt employer). Finally, certain foreign nationals may be eligible for nonimmigrant visa categories other than H-1B (e.g., TN, L-1, E, and O-1A).
Opinions and conclusions in this post are solely those of the author unless otherwise indicated. The information contained in this blog is general in nature and is not offered and cannot be considered as legal advice for any particular situation. The author has provided the links referenced above for information purposes only and by doing so, does not adopt or incorporate the contents. Any federal tax advice provided in this communication is not intended or written by the author to be used, and cannot be used by the recipient, for the purpose of avoiding penalties which may be imposed on the recipient by the IRS. Please contact the author if you would like to receive written advice in a format which complies with IRS rules and may be relied upon to avoid penalties.
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