After conducting and completing a second round of selections to reach the FY 2024 H-1B cap, USCIS has notified all prospective petitioners of their selection.

In the second round, USCIS selected an additional 77,600 registrations. The new petition filing period for those selected is from August 2, 2023, to October 31, 2023.

The last time USCIS held multiple selection rounds was for FY 2022. USCIS uses historical data to calculate the number of petitions that must be selected to meet the cap goal. What the agency could not account for that year was the COVID-19 pandemic. Many sponsoring employers ultimately chose not to file petitions due to the unforeseen difficult economic circumstances.

In contrast, USCIS believes the decreased filing rate for FY 2024 is indicative of its extensive fraud investigations including denying and revoking petitions. While USCIS believes it has now selected a sufficient number of registrations to reach the annual 85,000 H-1B visa cap, a third lottery might be in the cards, as in FY 2022.

For those who were not selected, there are possible options to consider.