United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the congressionally mandated cap for H-1B visas for the 2023 fiscal year. The agency will not conduct a second H-1B registration lottery.

Key Points:

  • USCIS conducted the H-1B registration lottery on March 29, selecting 127,600 registrations from a pool of 483,927.
  • USCIS said Tuesday that it has completed sending non-selection notifications to registrants’ online accounts. Accounts for those who were not selected will show: “Not Selected: Not selected – not eligible to file an H-1B cap petition based on this registration.”
  • USCIS will continue to accept cap-exempt H-1B petitions, including petitions to:
    • Extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the U.S.
    • Change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers.
    • Allow current H-1B workers to change employers.
    • Allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in additional H-1B positions.

BAL Analysis: USCIS’s announcement confirms that there will not be a second FY 2023 lottery. The agency received a record number of registrations in March, a sign of the ongoing popularity of the H-1B program and the high demand for a limited number of visas. BAL will continue to follow developments related to the H-1B program and will provide updates as information becomes available.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.

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