Total H-1B Lottery Entries Declined for Second Consecutive Year

Employers submitted about 344,000 eligible registrations in March for the annual H-1B visa lottery, the lowest number in four years, US Citizenship and Immigration Services said.

While duplicate entries have declined dramatically in consecutive years, this spring the number of workers with just one eligible registration on their behalf fell too, according to data posted by the agency Tuesday.

It was the second lottery for the visas heavily used by the tech sector since USCIS revamped its selection process to give each individual the same odds of selection. It made that change to weed out multiple illegitimate entries on behalf of workers by companies it said were attempting to cheat the lottery system.

The H-1B program was a major focus in the first Trump administration, when the online registration process was first introduced but petitions came under more intense scrutiny. More recently, it’s been the subject of infighting among Trump allies. White House adviser Elon Musk has defended use of high-skilled foreign against figures like Steve Bannon and Laura Loomer who attacked the H-1B program for undermining American workers.

This year was also the first selection process since USCIS hiked registration fees for online registrations from $10 to $215. Although the registration numbers were down, the demand still far outstripped the 85,000 specialty occupation visas available under a statutory cap each year.

Total eligible lottery registrations fell by more than 26% from the previous fiscal year. After accounting for more than half of eligible entries in fiscal year 2024, registrations on behalf of workers with multiple submissions made up just over 2% of the total eligible entries.