H-1B 2023 Cap Reached

USCIS announced today that they have received 483,927 H-1B visa registrations and selected 127,600 (about 26%) in the first round for FY 2023. USCIS’ selections met the mandated 65,000 in the regular cap and the 20,000 allotted for the master’s cap (advanced degree exemption), totaling 85,000. This post will explore what that means for those who submitted applications and the next steps.

FY 2023 Cap Reached. Were You Selected?

USCIS selects more registrations than the quota requires to account for employers who don’t file completed petitions and those denied, rejected, or withdrawn.

Another round of selections will not be happening. FY 2023 officially begins on October 1, 2022. USCIS conducted three rounds of selections during the last H-1B fiscal year and received 308,613 registrations.

Registrants that USCIS did not select will have notifications in their online accounts.

If USCIS did not select your petition, your online account would show:

• Not Selected – not eligible to file an H-1B cap petition based on this registration.

Weren’t selected in the H-1B FY 2023 lottery? The L-1 Visa may be a viable option instead.

Click here to learn more. 

USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions not subject to the numerical cap.

A U.S. Employer must match one of the following categories to be H-1B cap-exempt:

• Higher Education Institution
• A non-profit affiliated with a higher education institution
• Non-profit research or government organization
• Beneficiaries who will work in Guam or the Northern Mariana Islands. (Applicable until December 31, 2014).

Petitions filed for current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap, and who still retain their cap number, are exempt from the FY 2023 H-1B cap.

USCIS will continue to accept and process the petitions below:

• Those seeking to extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker can be in the U.S.;
• Seeking to change the terms of employment for a current H-1B worker;
• Permit current H-1B workers changing employers;
• Permit current H-1B workers to work simultaneously in other H-1B positions

Background: How the H-1B Cap Selection Process Works

1. USCIS monitors the H-1B filings and determines the date of when it has received enough petitions to reach the congressional cap.
2. Once they determine the date, USCIS will put the H-1B petitions through the computer to select the petitions randomly.
3. USCIS will randomly select the 20,000 petitions from those entered into the master’s cap. Those that USCIS did not select will go into the regular cap.
4. USCIS will randomly select the 65,000 petitions for the regular cap.
5. USCIS will reject and return the H-1B petitions the computer generator didn’t select with a refund of the submitted filing fees.
6. Petitioners can re-submit H-1B petitions at the next available period (i.e., the next fiscal year).

*Employers can reregister workers USCIS didn’t select in this H-1B fiscal year when the next season, FY 2024, begins in Spring 2023.