H-1B 2nd Draw Completed - 3rd Draw Possible

 

As usual, USCIS swiftly completed the second FY 2024 H-1B drawing over the weekend, right after their initial announcement last Thursday.  Text notifications were sent to the employer and attorney accounts for selected registrations.  Our law office was actively monitoring the process from Friday to Sunday and sending updates to our clients to share the good news. We are thankful that quite a few of our clients' registrations were selected in the second draw. For those who are not selected, we are hopeful for a third draw later this year, although the chance could be small.

For FY 2024, there were a total of 758,994 eligible registrations submitted, of which 350,103 were for beneficiaries with one registration only and 408,891 were for beneficiaries with multiple registrations.  According to USCIS, a total of 188,400 selections have been made through 07/31/2023, from both the first and second draw.  There were 110,791 selections from the first draw and 77,609 selections from the second draw – which is a significant number.  According to the statistics of our law firm, the selection rate of the second draw was about 8%.  

Source: USCIS Public Engagement

USCIS emphasized that it will continue to identify fraudulent registrations submitted by related parties for the same applicant.  In fact, USCIS has already issued formal requests for evidence on or denied H-1B petitions for this reason.  Hence, it is possible that there may still be visa numbers left behind after the 2nd draw, as multiple-filers are likely to refrain from filing a petition even if they were selected.  Still, USCIS has already made 188,400 selections, and there are only totally 85,000 H-1B visa numbers for this fiscal year.  If there are leftover visas, the number would be a small one.  But, as always, we do our best and hope for the best for our clients.  For those who are not selected, our office tries to offer them other alternative solutions to maintain their legal status and / or obtain legal authorization to work in the United States. 

(Immigration laws and policies change regularly.  If you have any questions regarding this article, please visit www.1visa1.com to schedule a legal consultation.)