Recently, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on its official website that in the 2024 fiscal year, after two rounds of lottery,H-1B all 8The quota of 50,000 visas has been completely depleted. This means that friends who are still waiting for the third round of "Haidilao" can only find another way or wait for good luck next year.
In fact, another three months,The H-1B petition for FY 2025 will begin again. Today, Xiaoqiao would like to sort out with you the new trends that may appear in H-1B applications next year.
Lots are drawn by head
Since FY 2021, USCIS has adopted an H-1B electronic registration lottery system, where each registration is eligible to participate in the lottery, which means that if an employee is registered by more than one employer, he has multiple lottery opportunities. This has led to an increase in the number of H-1B registrations year on year, and 2023 will see the highest number of H-1B registrations in H-1B history780,000 copies!
Among them, one person draws more than 400,000 copies. There is a beneficiaryAt the same time there were 83 so-called different employersRegister them online!All of this has led to the fact that the H-1B lottery is almost impossible to reach.
In response to the increasing fraud and abuse in H-1B, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched a program to modernize the H-1B visa process in mid-October. Under the proposal, the H-1B lottery would be changed from the original "one registration, one lottery."Changed to "one person, one draw"., i.e., each registered beneficiary (H-1B worker), regardless of how many employers file a registration, is selected only once.
Industry insiders expect that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will most likely work hard to make a new round of H-1B applications in March next year to achieve a "capitation lottery".
The registration fee may skyrocket by 2050%.
According to The Eonomic Times, USCIS plans to launch a new round of immigration application fee price increases, covering a wide range of areas, and the H-1B visa is one of them.
In fact, as early as January this year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the superior management unit of the USCIS, had announced this plan to increase the price of immigration application fees. It's just that it hasn't been implemented because of the criticism.
However, this did not change USCIS's determination to raise prices. According to people familiar with the matter, the price increase is plannedIt is expected to be finalized in January 2024and take effect within 60-90 days thereafter.
At that time, the electronic registration fee for H-1BIt will be a significant 2050%, from the current $10** to $215；At the same time, the filing fee for H-1B visa applications will also increase by 70%, from $460 to $780.
Expand the H-1B lottery waiver
In the October proposal,:The Department of Homeland Security is also proposing to expand the scope of the lottery-free H-1B.
The H-1B is not required to participate in the lottery and there is no limit to the number of applicants to apply, but the restrictions on employers are very strict, and originally only higher education institutions, non-profit institutions related to or affiliated with higher education institutions, and non-profit research organizations or ** research institutions are eligible to apply for the H-1B without lottery application.
The new proposal proposes to expand the scope of the Ballot-Free H-1B by revising the definitions of "non-profit group research organization", "research institution" and key terms, so that beneficiaries who do not work directly for the above three categories but are affiliated with the organization have the opportunity to apply for the Ballot-Free H-1B.
It may be more difficult to apply across majors
DHS ProgramThe eligibility criteria for "specialty occupation" were revised again, which means that the job applying for an H-1B visa must require specialized studies in a specific field, and those studies must be directly related to the day-to-day duties of the position.
A broad profession cannot be considered a "professional position". For example, if the beneficiary has a general business degree but applies for a marketing position, it will not meet the requirements for a specific professional position. For example, if the beneficiary has an engineering-related degree but applies for a software development position, it cannot directly prove the relationship between the degree and the position he or she is employed for.
This means that many international students who apply for positions across majors will have a lot of trouble when applying for H-1B.
The H-1B road is still riddled with thorns
Overall, next year's H-1B petition is full of expectations, but it is still not optimistic. For most international students, H-1B remains difficult. In particular, there are four "fatal" details that cannot be ignored:
1.Don't use duplicate registrations to increase your chances of winning the lottery
Duplicate registration is when an employer registers multiple accounts for you when registering for the lottery, and the repeated lottery seems to increase the odds of winning the lottery, but once found,All registration draws for the current year will be invalid.
2.Not all masters can +20000
If you graduated with a master's degree or higher in the United States, you can draw according to the U.S. master's degree. Compared to the U.S. undergraduate degree lottery, there are an additional 20,000 places. Note here,Must be a master's degree in the United States. And if your master's degree is awarded by a private+profit school, even if you get their master's diploma, you can't follow the U.S. master's lottery.
3.Professional mismatch work** risk
It should be noted that when applying for H-1B, try to find a job that matches your major, otherwise you will face questions about whether you have enough knowledge and professional skills to be qualified for the job when applying for interdisciplinary applications, which will affect the lottery rate.
4.Don't get into trouble with your boss
Whether you are applying for H-1B or EB2 3, the main premise is the employer's willingness. If the company withdraws your H-1B petition, you will be awarded the lottery this year, and even if you have already received the approval letter, it will be in vain.
If your H-1B is not yet effective at this time, and you still have valid status, the situation is relatively better, and you can pack your bags more calmly. If you are already in H-1B status at this time, but the H-1B is revoked by your employer, you will immediately lose your status in the United StatesMust leave the country immediately!
This last point alone restricts the future career development and long-term planning of Chinese students to a large extent. H-1B, for Chinese students, is really "it is not easy to say that I love you".
EB-5: A new shortcut to the United States
Recently, many Chinese students who are stuck in H-1B have put theEB-5 Immigrant Investor ProgramIt has become a shortcut to stay in the United States quickly.
Under the EB-5 New Deal, the EB-5 visa is reserved for not only programsThere is currently no backlogAnd the review cycle is much faster than before. What's more, in the absence of a backlogEB-5 applicants in the U.S. can file I-526E and I-485 domestic change of status, I-765 EAD, and I-131 repatriation permit at the same timeIn this way, when waiting for USCIS to process the I-526E conditional green card, you can first obtain a work permit and a re-entry permit to the United States, get a legal work status, and enter and exit the United States without visa restrictions.
Mr. R, a foreign overseas customer, successfully got a COMBO card in only 3 months
Qiaowai's latest combo card was approved
The Combo Card is a work card, and the lower left side of the card will write Serves as I-512 Advance Parole, which is a re-entry card.
Many Chinese students go from submitting their applications to being approved for their COMBO cardsIt only took three months, successfully obtained an American identity, and freely worked, settled, and lived in the United States. At the fastest speed, if you start applying now, you may no longer have to worry about staying in the United States before the H-1B lottery results are released next year!