On August 23, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has selected sufficient H-1B Visa Petitions to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 regular cap and 20,000 U.S. advanced degree (master’s cap) for the 2023 Fiscal Year H-1B visa allocations. USCIS has also sent non-selection notifications to petitioners who submitted initial registrations for the Fiscal Year 2023. USCIS has sent non-selection notices to registrants’ online accounts.

 Key highlights from USCIS’ announcement include:

 USCIS will not conduct a second H-1B Lottery this year, in contrast to the previous two H-1B cap registration seasons when USCIS conducted subsequent lotteries due to insufficient H-1B petitions received.

• Properly filed H-1B registrations that were not selected in the H-1B cap lottery will show “Not Selected” in their accounts. This means that these registrations are not eligible to file an H-1B cap petition based on this year’s registration.
• USCIS will continue to accept and process H-1B visa petitions not subject to the cap, including:
  • Petitions for Extension of H-1B status to extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the U.S.;
  • Petitions for Change of H-1B Employer to allow H-1B workers to change employers;
  • Petitions for H-1B Concurrent Employment to allow H-1B workers to work concurrently in additional H-1B positions; and
  • Petitions for Change in Terms of current H-1B employment.

This announcement confirms that USCIS will not conduct a second H-1B cap lottery for the 2023 fiscal year. As the U.S. emerges from the COVID-19 Pandemic, demand for the limited number of H-1B visas has significantly increased. USCIS conducted subsequent H-1B cap lotteries during the past two H-1B cap seasons. We will continue to monitor developments related to the H-1B visa program.

Please reach out to our Immigration Practice Group if you would like to discuss alternate visa options for H-1B registrations not selected in the lottery.