The H-1B Cap Lottery Registration for FY 2024 will open on March 1, 2023, at noon eastern and will run through noon eastern on March 17, 2023. This open registration will allow for petitioners to submit registrations for potential employees on the online H-1B registration system. 

Once registered in the FY 2024 H-1B cap, you’ll receive a confirmation number. Your H-1B petitioner must use a myUSCIS online account to register their beneficiary electronically as well as pay a $10 H-1B registration fee. 

Petitioners may submit more than one registration for different beneficiaries, and you also may be entered as a beneficiary by more than one petitioner if you have a valid and true job offer from each employer. 

After March 17th, the USCIS will randomly select registrations from the pool of submission and send selection notifications through users’ myUSCIS online accounts. If selected, you should be notified by March 31. 

In order to be petitioned for an H-1B, you have to be selected during this H-1B lottery registration process.

Note

Although rumored, the H-1B cap lottery registration fee is still only $10 per beneficiary. Previously, it was debated whether or not the fee would be increased to $250 already, since this was recently announced in the USCIS fee increase proposal.

H-1B Lottery – Additional Rounds

The H-1B lottery has seen historic numbers in just the past few years. In FY 2021, there were 275,000 registrants. This increased to 308,000 in FY 2022, and again to 483,000 for fiscal year 2023. It is highly likely that we will see over a half a million registrations for FY 2024’s H-1B lottery.

For FY 2023, the USCIS selected over 127,000 H-1B registrations initially in order to avoid having additional lottery selections throughout the year. We expect that the USCIS will do this again for FY 2024, and that only one lottery selection will take place. 

H-1B Lottery 2024 Key Dates

With an opening date of March 1, applications for selected beneficiaries will likely be accepted starting April 1, and will remain open for 90 days. During this time, petitioners will gather all appropriate documents and file on their beneficiary’s behalf. If you are selected, only one employer can submit paperwork on your behalf.

March 1 – March 17: H1B Visa Lottery 2024 electronic portal is open

April 1: Initial date for accepting applications for those chosen in the lottery

April 1 – June 30: Initial window for those who were selected in the lottery to file applications (I-29)

Tips for H-1B Lottery Registrants

If you are looking to get an H-1B visa, you first need to find an employer to offer you a valid and true job offer. They also need to be willing to sponsor you. H-1B fees can range anywhere from $2,000 to $6,000, which will be paid by the employer. They also need to pay the $10 registration fee to enter you into the lottery. 

Once you have a job offer and an employer, be sure to remind them to register you on your behalf on March 1 when the online registration opens up. Your employer will also want to file an LCA (Labor Condition Application) to the DOL, which is required to sponsor an H-1B visa. Keep in mind you can have multiple employers enter in your name if you have multiple job offers, however, if chosen, only one of those employers can file for you.

If you are selected from the lottery, then your employer will be able to file your application on your behalf. Your application will then be processed by the USCIS. If approved, you’ll likely be able to get your stamping done anywhere from July through the end of the calendar year. However, you may need to provide additional information or evidence in order to get your application approved, which can delay the process. 

If you are not selected in the first round, you’ll be put on a waiting list. If for some reason the USCIS needs to hold another lottery after the first selections to fill their cap, then waitlisted registrations will be chosen from. At the end of the calendar year, if you remain unselected, you will be removed from the waiting list and you will need to be entered into the lottery again for the next fiscal year.

For a more in-depth guide on the H-1B cap lottery and how to prepare, read our COMPLETE Guide to H1B Visa 2024.