H-1B Cap Lottery Season Commences on March 7, 2025

Key Takeaways

• Employers seeking to hire foreign professionals in H-1B status need to prepare for the registration process.
• The annual lottery season commences in early March, and the short filing period lasts little more than two weeks.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released guidance on the annual H-1B random-selection (H-1B Cap Lottery), which will be conducted at the end of March. Pre-registration for the lottery is required, and the window will be open from Friday, March 7, 2025, 12 p.m. Eastern Time to Monday, March 24, 2025, 12 p.m. Eastern Time.

The H-1B Cap Lottery requires only basic information about the employer and potential H-1B employee beneficiary, easing the registration process. A key change to the lottery process this year is that the per-beneficiary fee has increased from $10 to $215.

This advisory explains the registration process, qualifications, and exemptions.

What Is the H-1B Cap Lottery Registration?

For individuals who are subject to the H-1B cap, there is an annual lottery held every year in March. This is the only time during the year when USCIS accepts H-1B petitions for the upcoming fiscal year, which will begin on October 1, 2025.

The Cap Lottery filing process involves two steps:

1. H-1B Registration: An employer must have an online USCIS account. Only basic information is required about the employer and each beneficiary for lottery registration, in particular, employer name, federal employer identification number (FEIN), and beneficiary passport details.
   
   
2. Selection Process: USCIS conducts the lottery during the last week of March. Entries that are selected are notified electronically.

Following selection, to proceed with H-1B processing the employer must file a full H-1B petition with USCIS between April 1 and June 30, 2025.

Each year, demand outpaces the annual allotment or quota of new H-1B numbers available. The H-1B law allocates 65,000 selections for foreign nationals with a bachelor's degree (or equivalent) and 20,000 selections for foreign nationals who have graduated with U.S. master's degrees, for a total of 85,000. Last year, USCIS received over 400,000 registrations for 85,000 H-1B slots. There are exemptions to the lottery (see below).

Who Qualifies for H-1B?

To qualify for H-1B approval, the offered job must be one for which at least a bachelor's degree (or its equivalent) in a specific narrow range of academic fields related to the role is normally the minimum requirement, and the beneficiary must hold this degree (or its equivalent). The employer must pay at least the prevailing wage specific to the role and geographic area of the employee's worksite.

Common candidates for the H-1B Cap Lottery include:

1. Students and recent graduates of U.S. universities who hold F-1 student status and who are working pursuant to Optional Practical Training (OPT), including STEM OPT, or Curricular Practical Training (CPT) employment authorization. A change this year is that F-1 students with OPT selected in the lottery, with timely filed H-1B Cap petitions, are eligible for automatic extensions of employment until April 1, 2026 (or until the validity start date of the approved H-1B petition, whichever is earlier). 
   
   
2. Professionals working in temporary TN, E-2, E-2S, E-3, O-1, L-1, L-2S, or H-4 EAD status may be eligible for a change of status to H-1B.
    
3. Future candidates the employer wants to hire but are not currently employed in the United States or are working for the company abroad may be eligible if the degree requirement is met.

Are There Any Exemptions From the Annual H-1B Cap?

Individuals who have previously been subject to the lottery and had H-1B status or visa approved, such as those seeking extensions or change of employer, and who have not met the six-year H-1B limit, need not go through the lottery process again.

Additionally, employers who fall under select categories of educational or nonprofit organizations that file H-1B petitions are "cap-exempt" from the H-1B numerical limitation.

DWT Is Your H-1B Resource

Given the short window of opportunity, employers should contact immigration counsel by the beginning of March to sponsor an individual to enter H-1B.

Immigration law is increasingly complex. Administrative policy changes can have far-reaching implications and impose a level of unpredictability. Employers can reduce the negative impact by having qualified legal counsel review immigration history for current and future employees.

DWT attorneys have begun working with employers to prepare H-1B Cap Lottery submissions. It is imperative that employers take advantage of this short filing window to avoid waiting another year for the opportunity.