USCIS Announces Number of Registrations Submitted for FY2025 H-1B Cap Lottery
Yesterday, May 1, 2024, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the total number of H-1B registrations submitted in the annual random selection process (“the lottery”) for FY2025, in addition to other metrics relating to this process.
Most notably, the USCIS announced that the total number of individuals for whom H-1B registrations were submitted this year (approx. 442,000), was comparable to the number of beneficiaries submitted last year, for FY2024 (446,000). The total number of registrations however, decreased dramatically, from 758,944 to 470,432. The reason for this decrease is attributed to the new ‘beneficiary centric’ lottery process, which prevents beneficiaries being counted multiple times in the lottery.
The USCIS also announced the total number of H-1B registrations selected in the initial lottery draw was 120,603, with 114,017 unique beneficiaries. Although the annual cap limit for new H-1Bs is set by law at only 85,000, with 6,800 reserved for Chile and Singapore pursuant to treaties with those countries, every year the USCIS selects more than the available number, anticipating that some H-1B petitions may be denied, and some employers may not decide to go forward with a selected registration. If at the end of the initial H-1B cap filing period, which runs from April 1, 2024 to June 30, 2024, new H-1B numbers are still available, the USCIS will hold a second lottery, drawing on the pool of registrations already submitted during the registration period in March of this year. The second lottery, if there is one, will likely take place in July or August of this year.
What this Means for Our Clients
The lottery results for FY2025 suggests only a small decrease in demand for new H-1Bs, compared to FY2024. The significant reduction in the total number of unique beneficiaries (individuals for whom registrations are submitted) suggests that the new beneficiary-centric selection process has been successful to a certain degree in preventing beneficiaries from gaining advantage in this process by having multiple employers submit registrations on their behalf. Yesterday’s announcement also reiterates that the USCIS will aggressively pursue employers and individuals that it believes are submitting fraudulent H-1B registrations, and may refer employers and/or individuals for criminal prosecution where it believes it is warranted.