In March 2023, USCIS ran an initial random lottery for H-1B registrations for the H-1B cap 2023 (FY) 2024.  Of the 780,884 registrations submitted, 110,791 were selected in the first round.  There is much speculation that USCIS disqualified many of the selected registrants due to suspected fraud related to gaming the system by filing multiple registrations.

USCIS recently determined that an additional lottery is needed to reach the 2023 cap.  USCIS will announce when the second lottery has been completed and the “winners” have been notified.  It is likely that USCIS will complete notification of “winners” by Monday 31 July 2023.

To notify Registrants of the selection, USCIS only sends a generic e-mail stating that action has been taken in the account.  An employer or attorney user must login to his or her myUSCIS online account to learn the details of the notification.

Once a registrant logs into the registrant’s USCIS online account, it will show one of the following statuses for each registration:

  • Submitted:  The registration has been submitted and is eligible for selection. If the initial selection process has been completed, this registration remains eligible for selection in any subsequent selections for the current fiscal year.
  • Selected:  Selected to file an H-1B cap petition. The Selection Notification must be used to file the H-1B petition.
  • Not Selected:  Not selected – not eligible to file an H-1B cap petition based on this registration
  • Denied:  Multiple registrations were submitted by or on behalf of the same registrant for the same beneficiary. If denied as a duplicate registration, all registrations submitted by or on behalf of the same registrant for this beneficiary for the fiscal year are invalid.
  • Invalidated- Failed Payment: A registration was submitted but the payment method was declined, not reconciled, disputed, or otherwise invalid.

H-1B cap-subject beneficiaries, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, must have a valid “Selected” registration notification for this fiscal year in order to file an H-1B cap-subject petition.

The status of registrations that are not selected as part of any initial random selection process will remain as “Submitted.” If USCIS needs more selections to meet the 85,000 cap, an additional selection will occur later in the year.  Last year, there were no additional selections.  It is impossible to predict if additional selections will be needed this year.

Registrants and representatives who are not selected will not be notified until after USCIS has determined that they have reached the H-1B cap for that fiscal year.