‘2023 worst year for H1B cap lottery,’ Expert suggests easier alternatives to enter the US
2 min read 25 Mar 2023, 07:37 PM ISTPeople who go to school in Australia or Canada and become citizens of those countries can qualify for country-specific visas (E-3 or TN) and then come to the US more easily afterwards.
PremiumGetting a US H1-B visa from India is getting tougher each year. The United States issues a certain number of H1-B visas for each country every year and since a large number of applications are made from India, there is an obvious backlog which gets transferred to the next year automatically. This way, the pile is getting larger every year. However, if you don't want to wait that long there are other ways to make it happen.
Entering US as Canadian, Australian citizen
Elaborating on the same, US immigration lawyer Robert Webber said, Indians may want to consider going to university in Australia or Canada and becoming Australian or Canadian citizens are there are special US work visas available for citizens of Australia (E-3 visas) and citizens of Canada (TN visas) and those are not available to citizens of India.
People who go to school in Australia or Canada and become citizens of those countries can qualify for country-specific visas (E-3 or TN) and then come to the US more easily afterwards.
Applying for non-cap H1B visa category
Also, you can apply for non-cap H1B visa. This visa category allows American employers to hire foreign workers with specialized skills dodging the H-1B cap and the lottery process. “Healthcare is a particularly attractive sector as many employers are “exempt" from the H-1B cap," he commented.
The exemptions are also available for other employers like higher education institutions, non-profit organizations associated with higher education institutions, and non-profit or government research organizations etc.
Individuals who are unable to secure an H-1B visa through the regular cap may still be able to enter the US on an uncapped H-1B visa by finding employment with a cap-exempt employer. They may later switch to a capped employer during each cap registration period while working with the cap-exempt employer.
‘2023 is likely to worst year for the H-1B cap lottery.’
Webber had earlier pointed out, the registrations this year can go up to 500,000 for about 85,000 new H-1B visa petition approvals. He also commented that ‘2023 is likely to worst year in history for the H-1B cap lottery.’
He also commented that the process is likely to get tougher in the coming years. “United States is a strong economy and one of the ‘easiest ways’ to get into the job market is to have a consulting company sponsor you for an H-1B. So the demand is likely to spike further."
