4.83 Lakh Lucky Applicants Will Get H1B Visa In 2023! H1B Cap Increased By 47% By US Govt

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received 483,927 H-1B cap registrations this fiscal.

Growth Of 57%

This is an approximate 57% increase over the fiscal 2022 filing season.

Of the total registrations, USCIS has selected 127,600, 26% of the total, to meet the H-1B quota.

Various facets such as the sponsoring employer not going through with the actual filing process and the possibility of denial of the visas are factored in.

Quota

The government has selected a much higher number of registrations in the initial lottery than last year when it selected 87,500 registrations.

The annual quota for H-1B cap visas is 85,000, including 20,000 visas that are allotted under the Masters’ cap for those having advanced degrees from US universities.

For the fiscal 2023 filing season, registrations were submitted by more than 48,000 prospective petitioners, 31% of which were for the Master’s cap.

What Next?

Sponsoring employers whose registrations were accepted have until June 30 to file the visa applications.

After this, applications will be processed including calling for more information – if need be.

The earliest the selected beneficiaries (H-1B cap workers) can begin their work in the US will be October 1.

A second lottery could be conducted If the number of visa applications received by June 30 falls short of the annual quota.

Registration Process

The current H-1B registration process was introduced for the first time in 2020.

As part of this process, sponsoring employers first complete an online registration process which requires only basic information about the prospective worker.

A lottery aka random selection process is then carried out.

H-1B cap visa applications have to be filed only in respect of the selected beneficiaries. 

Indians Biggest Visa Beneficiaries

India accounted for three-fourths of H-1B visas issued in 2021, continuing its historical dominance on this highly sought after professional visa.

The US approved 407,071 H-1B petitions in 2021 and 301,616 of them – almost 74.1 percent – were for Indian workers.

They also accounted for 74.9 percent in 2020.

Trailing India are China with 12.1 percent, Canada with 0.9 percent, South Korea also with 0.9 percent and Philippines with 0.7 percent.

The sequence was the same in 2020, with almost the same numbers.