By: Gladys Gervacio

Introduction

As of April 1, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that enough electronic registrations were received during the cap registration period to meet the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 H-1B numerical allocations, including the advanced degree exemption (master’s cap). A total of 114,017 beneficiaries were selected for the FY 2025 H-1B cap.

Summary

During the FY 2025 H-1B cap registration period, a significant decrease in the total number of registrations was observed compared to FY 2024, including fewer registrations for beneficiaries with multiple registration submissions.

• The number of unique beneficiaries for FY 2025 was approximately 442,000, closely aligning with the approximately 446,000 from FY 2024.
• Similarly, the number of unique employers for FY 2025 was about 52,700, which is comparable to the roughly 52,000 from FY 2024.
• However, the total number of eligible registrations dropped significantly to 470,342 for FY 2025, down 38.6% from 758,994 in FY 2024.
• On average, there were 1.06 registrations per beneficiary in FY 2025, a decrease from 1.70 in FY 2024.

Furthermore, to minimize the potential for unfair advantages, USCIS has revamped the H-1B registration system to make it more beneficiary-centric.

Lastly, if USCIS does not receive enough H-1B cap petitions to meet the annual quota, it is expected that a second cap lottery may be conducted after the petition filing period closes on June 30, 2024. 

Conclusion    

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