Today, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the number of FY2024 Cap H-1B Registrations received, with approximately 781,000 total. Of those registrations, 758,994 were found to be eligible and 110,791 were selected.

This announcement confirms what employers and attorneys have been discussing since the lottery was completed in March: that this Cap year seemed to have incredibly low selection rates.

In FY2023, 474,421 registrations were submitted for the 85,000 available visa slots, which would equal an approximately 18% chance of selection.

The 758,994 eligible registrations submitted this year means that an applicant had about an 11% chance of selection.

USCIS’s chart is below for reference:

This chart shows registration and selection numbers for fiscal years 2021-2024 (as of April 24, 2023).

Cap Fiscal YearTotal RegistrationsEligible Registrations*Eligible Registrations for Beneficiaries with No Other Eligible RegistrationsEligible Registrations for Beneficiaries with Multiple Eligible RegistrationsSelections**
2021274,237269,424241,29928,125124,415
2022308,613301,447211,30490,143131,924
2023483,927474,421309,241165,180127,600
2024780,884758,994350,103408,891110,791

In today’s announcement, USCIS specifically addressed their plan to implement measures to combat fraud in the registration process. We will continue to monitor the actions USCIS plans to take to curb fraud, which hopefully will result in action against bad actors and a second lottery run this year.

Should you wish to apply for U.S. employment authorization or need any immigration assistance, please contact an attorney with the Immigration Practice Group at Fox Rothschild to discuss your eligibility.

Mr. Harley is a Partner in the Immigration Practice Group at Fox Rothschild LLP.  Mr. Harley’s practice covers the United States and Consulates worldwide.  Mr. Harley is based in our Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania office.  He can be reached at mharley@foxrothschild.com or at 412-391-2418.