H1B Visas: Lottery system to remain in operation

March 30, 2017: A federal court has rejected a lawsuit filed against the lottery adopted by US Citizenship and Immigration Services to issue H1B visas. The lawsuit was filed by web development and management agency Tenrec Inc and landscape architecture company Walker Macy, both based in Portland.

The judge has declared that USCIS has freedom to decide what should be done with regards to the visa issuance process. Usually, the USCIS employs a computer based random selection process – aka the lottery -- if the number of H1B visa petitions crosses the cap set by Congress in the first five days after the application process starts in April.

The USCIS has officially announced that there will be no change in H1B visa rules this year. Fresh H1B visa applications can be made on April 3. Apparently, the existing lottery scheme will continue to remain in use for issuing visas for the fiscal 2018 as well.

Looks like there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel for Indian techies, who account for a huge chunk of people employed in H1B visa jobs. This is also great news for Indian IT companies that have been worried about a possible change in visa regulations ever since Donald Trump became the 45th president of the US.

In spite of growing uncertainties, the demand for H1B visas continue to stay high as ever. Statistics reveal that the USCIS receives around 150,000 applications, whereas cap set by Congress is only 65,000 in the general category and another 20,000 for foreign students who possess U.S. Master’s degrees or a higher level of education. The lottery system comes into play when demand is greater than supply, as is often the case.

This year, though, Indian techies are likely to experience a lot more of the dreaded H1B anxiety. Thanks to Donald Trump, the political situation in the US looks less favorable to workers from overseas. While critics say visa abuse has gone rampant of late, there is a widespread sentiment among Indians that the US should continue to stay open to highly skilled foreign professionals, as they have a huge role to play in generating jobs and building the economy.