Sophie Alcorn, AttorneyThe author and founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in California's Silicon Valley is an award-winning attorney certified in immigration and citizenship law by the State Bar Board. Sophie is passionate about transcending borders, expanding opportunity and connecting the world through a compassionate and visionary expert immigration law practice. Connect with Sophie on LinkedIn twitter.
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Dear Sophie
I am a co-founder of a startup company that has made H-1B transfers (including my own transfers), but no one has registered for the H-1B lottery yet. This year, we hope to enroll F-1 students who are working with us on OPT, as well as new engineers who are currently outside the United States. I have heard that there will be changes to the lottery. Do you have any insights to share?
— Focus on the lottery
Dear,
We are very happy to hear that you are registering potential new and existing employees for the H-1B lottery. One of the few dual-purpose work visas, the H-1B provides employers with a valuable strategy to attract and retain world-class talent in the United States. There are countless recent updates. The lottery is now “one person, one chance,” with new application fees, forms, software updates, and more. Now is the time to talk to an immigration attorney about sponsoring your team!
The main thing to keep in mind is that the application fees for all visa and green card applications, including H-1B professional visas, will increase starting April 1st. H-1B filing fees will increase from $460 to $780. Employers with 26 or more full-time employees. Also, on April 1, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will issue a revised Form I-129 (Petition for Nonimmigrant Workers) that you must use. Join us for our next free educational AMA webinar on February 9th to learn more.
First, let's talk about the so-called cap-subject H-1B process, also known as the lottery. This process will accept submissions from noon ET on March 6, 2024 until noon ET on March 22, 2024.