📰 USCIS Provides Registration and Selection Data for FY2025 H-1B Lottery

The USCIS has announced that it selected 114,017 beneficiaries, resulting in 120,603 selected registrations during its initial selection process for the FY 2025 H-1B cap that took place at end of March 2024.

Per the data accumulated within the registration period for the FY 2025 H-1B cap, the USCIS saw a significant decrease in the total number of registrations submitted compared to FY 2024, including a decrease in the number of registrations submitted on behalf of beneficiaries with multiple registrations.

Some interesting data points include the following per the Service:

• The number of unique beneficiaries this year for FY 2025 (approx. 442,000) was comparable to the number last year for FY 2024 (approx. 446,000).

• The number of unique employers this year for FY 2025 (approx. 52,700) was also comparable to the number last year for FY 2024 (approx. 52,000).

• The number of eligible registrations, however, was down dramatically for FY 2025 (470,342) compared with FY 2024 (758,994) — a 38.6% reduction.

• Overall, the USCIS saw an average of 1.06 registrations per beneficiary this year in FY 2025 compared to 1.70 for FY 2024.

For more data, please visit the USCIS’ H-1B Electronic Registration Process page at

 https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/h-1b-specialty-occupations-and-fashion-models/h-1b-electronic-registration-process

In its announcement, the Service also reminded the public of its ongoing commitment to deter and prevent abuse of the H-1B registration process, and to ensure that only those who follow the law are eligible to file an H-1B cap petition.

The initial data for the registration period for the FY 2025 H-1B cap indicates that there were far fewer attempts to gain an unfair advantage than in prior years, owing in large measure to the USCIS’ implementation of the beneficiary-centric selection process under the final rule on Improving the H- 1B Registration Selection Process and Program Integrity (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/02/02/2024-01770/improving-the-h-1b-registration-selection-process-and-program-integrity).

The Service is under firm belief, backed by its data, that the decreased filing rate for FY 2024 H-1B cap petitions and the decreased registration numbers for FY 2025 are indicative that their increased investigations and the beneficiary-centric selection process have been effective integrity measures.

GG&W will continue to monitor updates with the H-1B FY2025 Cap and we hope a second round of selections will occur.