The H-1B FY 2025 Initial Lottery and Selection Process Has Been Completed — Visa Lawyer Blog — April 1, 2024
In this blog post, we bring you an important announcement regarding the H-1B fiscal year (FY) 2025 cap season.
Today, April 1st the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it received sufficient electronic registrations during the initial registration period to meet the annual numerical limitations for the fiscal year (FY 2025), including for the advanced degree exemption (also known as the master’s cap).
Due to this, the agency has completed the H-1B visa lottery and selected unique beneficiaries at random from the properly submitted registrations to reach the H-1B cap.
As of today, April 1st USCIS has notified all prospective petitioners of their selection via their myUSCIS organizational accounts. Please be aware that only selected beneficiaries are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition with USCIS.
Congratulations to all those who were selected!
How will I know if I was selected in the lottery?
Petitioners with selected registrations will have their myUSCIS online organizational accounts updated to include a selection notice, which includes details of when and where to file. If you submitted your electronic registration with the assistance of an attorney, you should contact your legal representative to determine whether you were selected in the randomized lottery and your next steps.
Please note that, a registrant’s USCIS online account will show one of the following statuses for each beneficiary registered:
- Submitted: The registration has been submitted and is eligible for selection. If the initial selection process has been completed, this registration remains eligible, unless subsequently invalidated, for selection in any subsequent selections for the fiscal year for which it was submitted.
- Selected: Selected to file an H-1B cap petition.
- Not Selected: Not eligible to file an H-1B cap petition based on this registration.
- Denied – duplicate registration: Multiple registrations were submitted by or on behalf of the same registrant for the same beneficiary. If denied as a duplicate registration, all registrations submitted by or on behalf of the same registrant for this beneficiary for the fiscal year are invalid.
- Invalidated –failed payment: A registration was submitted but the payment method was declined, not reconciled, or otherwise invalid.
- Deleted: The submitted registration has been deleted and is no longer eligible for selection.
- Processing submission: USCIS is processing your submission. It may take up to 72 hours for all of your case information to show on the case details page. While it is processing, you will be unable to access your draft.
If I have been selected in the lottery, when can I submit my paper application by mail?
Only petitioners who were selected in the lottery will be able to file an online or paper application with USCIS on behalf of the alien worker.
H-1B cap-subject petitions for fiscal year (FY) 2025, may be filed online with USCIS beginning April 1, 2024, using your myUSCIS organizational account.
Petitioners also have the option of filing a paper Form I-129 H-1B petition and any associated Form I-907 request for premium processing service by mail. However, during the initial launch of organizational accounts, users will not be able to link paper-filed Forms I-129 and I-907 to their online accounts.
Those filing by mail will need to include a printed copy of the applicable registration selection notice with the FY 2025 H-1B cap-subject petition, and file the petition at the correct filing location, within the filing window indicated on your selection notice.
H-1B Filing Fee Increases
As we have mentioned in previous posts, the H-1B petition filing fee will increase from $460 to $780 starting April 1, 2024, and employers will be subject to a new Asylum Program fee of $600 for large employers and $300 for small employers (25 or fewer full-time employees). Additionally, the I-907 Premium Processing fee has increased to $2,805 for H-1B petitions effective February 26th.
If I have been selected, does that mean I will receive an H-1B visa?
No. Registration selection only means that petitioners are eligible to file H-1B cap-subject petitions with USCIS. It does not mean that the petition will be approved and there is no guarantee of approval.
Petitioners filing H-1B cap-subject petitions, including those petitions eligible for the advanced degree exemption, must still submit evidence and establish eligibility for petition approval based on existing statutory and regulatory requirements. The burden of proving eligibility always falls upon the petitioner who is filing the H-1B petition on behalf of the alien worker.
Receipt Notice Delays
USCIS has warned petitioners that once an H-1B cap-subject petition is filed with USCIS, there may be delays in issuing the Form I-797 Notice of Action (receipt notice) by mail. This is due to the increased filing volume during the H-1B cap filing period.
Petitioners with confirmation that their petition was delivered to USCIS, who have not yet received a Form I-797 confirming receipt of the petition, should not submit a second petition with USCIS. Submitting multiple H-1B cap petitions will result in the denial or revocation of both petitions.
If more than 30 days have passed since the confirmation of delivery and petitioners still have not received a Form I-797, you may contact the USCIS Contact Center for assistance.
For more information about these updates, please click here.
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