On December 13, 2023, U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the H-1B specialty occupation visa cap had been met for fiscal year (FY) 2024.
Quick Hits
- USCIS has received enough H-1B petitions to reach both the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa master’s cap for FY 2024.
- Over the next few days, USCIS will send nonselection notices to registrants through their online accounts.
USCIS stated in its announcement that the status for properly submitted registrations that were not selected would change from “Submitted” to “Not Selected.”
USCIS will continue to accept and adjudicate H-1B petitions for H-1B workers who are exempt from the cap or who have been previously counted against the cap and whose employers are filing petitions requesting
- an extension of stay;
- a change of employer;
- an amendment of the terms of employment; or
- concurrent employment in H-1B positions.
Looking Forward
Registration for the H-1B cap lottery for FY 2025 is expected to open in March 2024, and if the proposed changes released by USCIS on October 23, 2023, are implemented, it is anticipated that there will be a more streamlined H-1B process where registrants will be selected as individuals and not based on the number of registrations.
