On April 30, local time, USCIS officially announced the lottery data for H1B in fiscal year 2025:
- The total number of registrations in H1B in FY 2025 was 479,953, of which 470,342 were in force, a decrease of 38.6% compared to 758,994 valid registrations last year
- The total number of winning lots was 120,603, with a total winning rate of about 25.6%
This year is the first time that H1B has adopted the "one person, one draw" system, and the total number of registrations has decreased significantly, and the situation of multiple votes for one person has been effectively suppressed. Although the draw has become fairer, the difficulty of the draw has not improved much.
Review the situation of "one person with multiple draws" in previous years
Since the introduction of the "electronic lottery" by USCIS in 2020, the H1B threshold has been greatly reduced, and employers only need to pay $10 to draw lots for employees. Many labor outsourcing companies take advantage of this loophole to increase the success rate of applicants through a large number of applications.
For example, if a person gets offers from multiple companies at the same time, he can use these multiple offers to conduct multiple draws at the same time, and the winning rate will be greatly higher than that of a person who only has one offer.
After the H1B reform this year, "one person with multiple draws" became "one person with one draw". According to the data, the number of beneficiaries who filed H-1B registration for them with only one employer was 423,028, and the number of beneficiaries who filed H-1B registration for them with two or more employers was 47,314, which is only 10% of last year's number of "multiple draws" registrations compared to 408,891 last year.
The winning rate of the first round this year is 25%, which is indeed a lot higher than the 14.7% rate in the first round in 2023. But don't be too happy, you must know that in 2023, there will be two rounds of lottery, and the total number of winners in the two rounds will be 188,400, and the overall winning rate will be about 24.8%, which is not much different from this year.
And according to the prediction of Ruihong overseas European immigration experts, the probability of a second round of lottery this year is very low, and after adopting the "one person, one draw" policy, there is a high probability that there will not be too many applicants who will give up their qualifications for the lottery. Overall, staying in the United States through H1B is still a situation of fierce competition and too few monks.
As a work visa in the United States, H1B itself is subject to many constraints, such as job hopping and unemployment. Coupled with the continuous layoffs of large American factories, it is no less difficult for Chinese students to stay in the United States through H1B.
A shortcut for Chinese students to study in the United States
In view of the current situation, many elite families will choose EB-5 investment immigration when planning to study and immigrate to the United States.
The New Deal EB-5 is the only program that does not have a backlog for Chinese mainland applicants, and is ideal for international students in the United States and immigrants who want to quickly resolve their legalization.
The most attractive aspect of the new policy is undoubtedly that it allows applicants to achieve "double filing". After 90 days of lawful presence in the U.S., the applicant can file both the I-526E immigrant petition and the I-485 adjustment of status petition. At the same time, you can submit the I-765 work authorization and I-131 re-entry permit to the United States to obtain a Combo card, which is commonly known as a "small green card".
The approval period for a work permit is now 3~6 months, and the approval period for a re-entry permit is 6~12 months. Therefore, for international students in the United States, as long as they are in the United States, they do not need to find a job to renew their OPT, let alone worry about the status problem after failing to win the H1B lottery.
After obtaining the Combo card, the applicant can quickly legalize his or her status in the United States, and study, work, and live are no longer restricted by status.
New Deal EB-5 Advantages:
- Low threshold: no education, language, age, work experience, business background requirements, etc
- No immigration supervision: no residency requirement, free entry and exit from the United States, domestic work and career will not be affected
- The process is simple: there is no need to explain the source of all assets, and the application materials are simple
- Cost-effective: The investment starts at 800,000 US dollars, and the payment is refunded when due, and one person handles it, and the whole family immigrates.