There was recently good news from the United States Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS). On Friday, November 19, the agency announced that it held a third H-1B visa cap lottery for the Fiscal Year 2022. The applicants needed to do nothing – the agency selected another 16,753 submissions from the unselected 190,000 applications from the original registration period of March 9 to March 25, 2021.
The USCIS previously announced that it received a total of 308,613 registrations. The first lottery yielded 87,500 registrations on March 30. The second one on July 29 involved 27,171. This adds up to a preliminary selection total of 131,908. The numbers translate into a selection rate of 42.7%.
While it is welcome news, it was not a complete surprise because the agency said it would pick more petitions if initial lottery selections did not fill the H-1B quota of 85,000. The third lottery winners now have an additional 90-day filing window from November 22, 2021, to February 23, 2022.
This visa involves a nonimmigrant classification. It is typically for workers doing specialized work here in the United States. Examples of qualified applicants are research and development workers and fashion models. Applicants must exhibit distinguished merit in their field.
The fiscal year 2023 is just around the corner
Applications have gone from 190,098 in 2019 to 2022’s 308,613 for a 54% increase in just three years. Those nonetheless encouraged by the rate of approval may wish to apply for the fiscal year 2023. The application window will likely be in March 2022. Those planning to apply should start preparing now in order to best ensure that they are prepared to do all the necessary electronic paperwork.