The US will hold a second lottery for H-1B visas for IT professionals

(PTI) Washington, Dt

The United States is planning a second lottery for H-1B visa applicants. The US decision will give hundreds of Indian IT professionals who missed out on first-choice H-1B visas a rare second chance. Applications for the new draw can be made from August 2 to November 3, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said it did not receive a sufficient number of H-1B visas approved by Congress through a computerized draw for H-1B visas scheduled earlier this year. So a second draw was decided. The H-1B visa is a non-resident visa, which allows American companies to employ foreign workers in specialized occupations requiring theoretical or technical expertise. IT companies rely on H-1B visas every year to recruit thousands of people from countries like India and China.

In the United States, 3,000 approved visa applications are approved annually by Congress. However, the first 30,000 applications from beneficiaries with a master's degree in the United States are exempt from this limit. "We have recently decided that we need to select additional applications by fiscal year 207," said the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. The first application deadline for alternate registrants for FY 206 was April 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021.

"We selected some of the applications previously submitted through electronic registration on July 9 through a lottery selection process," USCIS said. Based on these selected applications, the applicants will have to apply between 2nd August to 3rd November. Selected applicants will be required to keep their My USCIS account updated with a notice of selection.

Hundreds of applicants, including Indian IT professionals who did not get a chance in the first lottery selection, are likely to get another chance through the second lottery this year, USCIS said. The federal agency said applicants would only have to apply with registrations selected for fiscal year 207. He added that H-1B cap-based applications should be properly filed at the appropriate service center.

Online filing is not available for H-1B visa applications. Applicants applying for H-1B will have to submit all the required documents along with the printed copy of the registration selection notice along with the H5-1B cap-subject petition for the financial year 206. The registration selection only indicates that applicants are eligible for H-1B cap subject applications.