If you have applied for H1B, then you will be interested in knowing if you are selected in the H1B lottery. So in this article, we will discuss current H1B lottery results, how the lottery works, and your chances of getting in H1B lottery results.
Candidates for the H1B visa are judged based on their credentials, education, and experience, but everyone is treated equally in the lottery.
The lottery draws randomly from the pool of approved H1B applications with a general cap and a cap for advanced degree petitions. The following article details
How the H1B Visa Lottery Works
The H-1B visa lottery, also known as the H1B cap, is held annually. The cap limits the number of H-1B visas issued to 65,000 per year (with 20,000 set aside for students in their final semester before graduation). Suppose you’re not selected in the lottery or didn’t apply because you were ineligible due to your country of citizenship or education level. In that case, your employer must file an I-129 petition with USCIS.
Every year on April 1 at 12:00 am EST (Eastern Standard Time), USCIS starts accepting petitions for H-1B visas for foreign workers who wish to work in the United States. This means that if someone enters into a contract with a U.S.-based company before April 1 and wants approval from USCIS before October 1, when their new job begins; they will have to go through this process as soon as possible, so there is enough time between signing their contract and starting work here in America.
Find Out If You are Selected in the H1B Lottery
The H1B Visa Lottery Application Period is from April 1 to April 7, 2022. The USCIS will start accepting H-1B visa petitions for fiscal years 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 beginning on May 1, 2020, at 12:00 pm EST (EDT). You must be a U.S.-based employer with a sponsoring employer-employee relationship with the beneficiary (employee) who is applying for an H-1B visa under this program.
You have three options to check if your petition has been selected in the random lottery process:
- Use MyCase to check if your petition was selected in the random lottery by checking “Lottery Status” under the Cases tab or clicking here https://www.mycaseonline.com/case/#!/lottery_status
- Check USCIS online portal after five business days of filing Form I-129S by visiting https://egovportal2bvisaapplicantinfo/ZVAS_OnlineDetailDisplay?AC=2&REST=https%3A%2F%2Fegovportal2bvisaapplicantinfo%23ZVAS_OIDetailDisplay&APPID=8dc9e4d5c084f636f4c8d81f30248a51&USCISVID=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx&TYPE_INPUT_MODEL_ACTIVITYID=8dc9e4d5c084f636f4c8d81f30248a51#HomePage (replace XXXX with your unique case number)
H1B Visa Lottery 2022 Dates
If you have a question, “How would I know if I was selected for the H1B Visa Lottery?” then you are not alone. More than 100K people who applied for H1B are looking for the same information.
Keep an eye on your email inbox to find out whether you made it into the H1B visa lottery. USCIS would not notify you if you were selected in the H-1B draw. It typically takes 7-10 days for USCIS to inform those not selected. If more than 65,000 petitions have been received during the first five business days of April 1 (that is, Monday – Friday), then a second random selection process will occur from April 8 through April 12. This second round determines which petitions will move forward to be processed for entry into the Fiscal Year 2022 beginning October 1, 2020
Odds of Selection in the H1B Lottery
The odds of being selected in the H1B Visa Lottery are about 1 in 3. The chance is higher for applicants with a Master’s degree but lower for those who applied without Premium Processing.
What are My H1B lottery chances in 2022?
Your odds depend on several factors, including your credentials and how many people file for an H-1B visa. If you have a master’s degree and are applying from an employer with at least 50 employees, then your chances of being selected will be higher than those who don’t have either credentials or work experience at a company with more than 50 employees.
How to Avoid Decreasing Your H-1B Probability
If you are selected in the H-1B lottery, the USCIS will send you a confirmation notice electronically. You must print and sign this notice and then return it to USCIS by mail or fax. If you do not receive this notice after April 1, do not assume that you have been selected in the lottery!
If your employer has asked for proof of your application at any point during the year prior to submitting it (for example: when preparing pay stubs or tax forms), collect copies of emails or other communications from them showing that they requested proof from USCIS before April 1. This will help ensure that there aren’t any issues with processing your application later on down the line if one arises due to timing issues related to filing fees paid late or other administrative mistakes made by either party involved (you or your employer).
The Best Way to Increase Your H1B Lottery Chances
The best way to increase your H1B Lottery chances is by increasing your salary, education level, and job specialization. This will increase the demand for you as an employee, which will, in turn, increase the demand for your services among companies looking to hire workers. These companies get first priority when it comes time to choose candidates from the lottery pool. Job specialization also helps because employers who require specialized skill sets in areas like engineering or I.T. can help create more demand for those types of workers than they would otherwise have been able to generate on their own.
Is the H1B Lottery Really Random?
The H-1B lottery is completely random. Every applicant has the same chance of being selected, regardless of when they submitted their application or how they filled out their application. Therefore there is no advantage in submitting your application early, and there is also no advantage to submitting a better application. All applications are treated equally regardless of how quickly you applied or whether you included extra documents with your application.
In other words, if Company 1 submits an application on April 10 and Company 2 submits an application on May 10, both companies have exactly the same probability of getting selected in that particular year’s lottery.
The only way someone can increase their odds (or decrease them) is by choosing one state over another when they apply for their Green Card, as explained below.
Does Premium Processing Increase My H1B Lottery Odds?
Does Premium Processing Increase My H1B Lottery Odds?
No. While the H-1B cap is reached within days of opening, there’s a chance that the USCIS will continue accepting premium processing applications after the cap has been reached. This can happen because it takes time for all those applications to be processed and approved. If you’re lucky enough that your application is among those selected for premium processing, then yes: You’ll get your visa faster—but only if you pay for this extra service (which costs an additional $1,225).
What Happens if You’re Selected in the H-1B Lottery?
If you are selected, you will be notified by mail. You will then have sixty days to submit additional documentation and pay an additional fee. You can begin working in the U.S. on October 1 of that year, but your employer must file the H-1B petition with USCIS by April 1.
Knowing how the h1b visa lottery works can help you prepare for it!
A common question that people have is whether their chances of being selected are higher if they apply for premium processing. The answer is no. Premium processing was introduced to expedite the H-1B application process, but it does not increase your chances of being selected in the lottery.
A lot of applicants wonder if there’s a way to know if they were selected in the H-1B lottery after submitting an application. There is no way to find out until after April 1, when you should check USCIS’s website for updates on your case status and see whether you were selected or not.
Conclusion:
If you’re thinking about applying for an H-1B visa through the lottery process, make sure you have enough information to increase your chances of success. The H1B lottery is much more likely to be random if USCIS holds a random draw again in 2023. Based on past data, the odds of winning are approximately 2%. So now that you know how the lottery works, what’s your chance of winning in the H1B lottery Results.
