US completes H-1B visa draw after receiving over 2 lakh applications

The US has completed the computerised draw of H-1B visa after receiving over 2,36,000 applications in just five days of opening up the process earlier this month.

This is more than thrice the Congressionally mandated cap of 65,000 in the general category for the work visas for highly-skilled workers in the general category for Financial Year 2017.

It is the most sought-after work visa for IT professionals, including from India.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Tuesday announced it also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions by those foreign students who completed their higher studies from a US academic institute in subjects if science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

USCIS received over 2,36,000 H-1B petitions during the filing period,



which began April 1, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption, a media statement said. It said it has completed the computerised draw of lots that would determine the successful applicants.

On April 9, USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process, or lottery, to select enough petitions to meet the 65,000 general-category cap and the 20,000 cap under the advanced degree exemption, also known as the master’s cap.

The agency conducted the selection process for the advanced degree exemption first. All unselected advanced degree petitions then became part of the random selection process for the 65,000 limit, it added.

USCIS will reject and return all unselected petitions with their filing fees, unless the petition is found to be a duplicate filing, it said.