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In the morning of July 30, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will conduct a second-round lottery for the fiscal year 2025 (calendar year 2024). According to our previous analysis, the selection rate of this year’s H-1B visa lottery is merely 26%, with a 38.6% reduction in the number of eligible registrations. Despite this, the USCIS still needs to select additional registrations to meet the annual cap of 85,000. Here are key points about this year's second-round H-1B lottery.
Selection Rate of 26%: Analysis of 2024 H-1B Visa Lottery
Working in the U.S. without H-1B: 8 Alternative Options to H-1B VisaWho is Eligible for the Second-Round H-1B Lottery?
According to the USCIS, only those who have submitted electronic registrations for the first-round lottery are eligible for the second-round lottery.
If you successfully submitted your registration for the first-round lottery in March but were not selected, you will automatically qualify for the second-round lottery. No additional action is required; you can simply wait for the results.
However, if you did not register for the first-round lottery, you will not be eligible for the second-round lottery.
Will There be a Master's Cap in the Second-Round Lottery?
The USCIS states that due to a sufficient number of master’s cap registrations, there will not be an advanced degree exemption in the second-round lottery. This means that there will be no distinction between the regular cap and the master’s cap—Whether you hold a master’s degree from a U.S. non-profit institution or not, your chances of being selected are the same.
What Will Happen if You are Selected?
If you are selected in the second-round H-1B lottery, your employer or immigration attorney will receive a notification from the USCIS. Thus, you need to regularly check information sources such as emails from your legal representative or your company’s HR department.
After getting selected, you will need to prepare the following documents to submit your petition:
- Job offer letter
- Job description
- Transcripts and certificates
- LCA (Labor Condition Application)
- Copies of passport and previous visas
- Resume
- H-1B registration notices
- Recent 3 paystubs
What Will be the Selection Rate for the Second-Round H-1B Lottery?
Before the calculation, we first need to know how many people will join the second-round lottery. According to the USCIS, a total of 470,342 registrations were received this year. After deducting the 120,603 selected, 349,739 registrations remain. Due to the new "one registration per person" policy, only 47,314 individuals submitted multiple registrations, so this figure can be ignored tentatively.
The practice of multiple registrations per person has been curtailed this year, leading to a potential decrease in the number of people not submitting petitions after getting selected. However, the U.S. tech industry is still recovering from a downturn, affecting major H-1B lottery participants like Indian consulting companies (ICCs), who may not file petitions even after their employees were selected. As a result, a significant number of people may still forgo their H-1B applications after being selected.
If we estimate that there are about 10,000 registrations being selected in the second round, the odds are approximately:
10,000 ➗ 349,739 = 2.8%.
Source: USCIS Website
Alternatives to H-1B Visa
If you are not selected in the H-1B lottery, you can consider the following options to maintain your employment and legal stay in the U.S.
- Day 1 CPT
- Cap-Exempt H-1B
- L-1 (for employees of transnational companies)
- O-1 (for individuals with extraordinary ability)
- H-4/L-2/J-2 EAD (spouse visas)
- J-1 (trainee)
- TN/ E-3/ H-1B1 (country-specific visas)
- E-1/E-2 (investor visas)
Source: USCIS Official Statement about Second-Round H-1B Lottery for 2024
Recommended Readings:
Day 1 CPT: Backup Plan for 2024 H-1B Visa Lottery
