Will you get an H-1B visa? It's anybody's guess, as applications exceed limit

The fee hike is set to be implemented from October 2, 2020

Neha AlawadhiMoneycontrol News 

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that oversees lawful immigration in the country, said it received 190,098 H-1B petitions during the filing period for fiscal year 2018-19.

The H-1B visa is a temporary work permit that allows highly skilled professionals to travel to the US, and is used extensively by the Indian information technology industry.

The H-1B visa has a maximum provision of 65,000 visas and an additional 20,000 for those with a US Master’s degree from an accredited institution.

The application process began April 2, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption. USCIS announced on April 6, that it had received enough H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 and the master’s cap of 20,000.

The agency will reject and return all unselected petitions with their filing fees unless the petition is a prohibited multiple filing, it said in a statement.

USCIS also said it conducted the selection process for the master’s cap first. All unselected master’s cap petitions then became part of the random selection process for the 65,000 cap.

The agency will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap.