United States announces second lottery for H-1B visas, but there's a caveat
"The United States has announced that a second lottery selection process will be conducted for H-1B applications for the fiscal year 2025.
This decision aims to meet the regular cap numerical allocation for the year, offering another chance for applicants who were not selected in the initial lottery held in March 2024.
However, there will be no second selection for the advanced degree exemption (master’s cap).
The initial selection yielded enough registrations and petitions to meet the FY 2025 master’s cap numerical allocation.
However, the second selection for the regular cap will consider all previously submitted registrations, including those eligible for the master’s cap and those only eligible for the regular cap.
In March, USCIS conducted an initial random selection on properly submitted electronic registrations for the fiscal year 2025 H-1B cap, including for beneficiaries eligible for the advanced degree exemption.
Only those petitioners with selected registrations for FY 2025 are eligible to file H-1B cap-subject petitions during the filing period on their registration selection notice.
The initial filing period for those with selected registrations for FY 2025 was from April 1 through June 30, 2024, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a statement.
Despite the initial selection, USCIS has now determined the need for additional selections to meet the FY 2025 regular cap.
The agency will conduct a second random selection from the pool of previously submitted electronic registrations for unique beneficiaries.
Prospective petitioners selected in this round will be notified that they are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for the beneficiary named in their registration.
The USCIS will announce the completion of this second selection process and the notification of selected petitioners shortly.
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