It’s stamping time for those applicants who got picked in the H-1B lottery for 2024. The visa registration process started for 2024 in January this year follows a series of other processes beginning October 2023 before candidates become eligible to work and live in the US.
But this year, For many Indian professionals and students, the excitement over being lucky to be selected in the annual US H-1B visa lottery, is fizzling out. When the US Citizenship and Immigration Services released the figures of H-1B visa registrations for the financial year 2024 last month, the organisation that manages the immigration system of the US, also flagged the issue of a large number of multiple registrations for eligible beneficiaries.
If you have applied for this visa this year, here is the timeline, events and processes you need to know while you wait for your visa to arrive
1) Escalating demand
The demand for H-1B visa increases every year. For the year 2023, USCIS received a total of 484,000 registrations. In FY 2024 USCIS released the number of registrations that came at 780,884. The available quota is just for 85,000 visas this year.
Since the demand is way above the available quota, the time of H-1B
Since the demand is way above the available quota, typically the time of H-1B filling is filled with both hope and luck for a majority of applicants. However, if you don’t get your visa this year, you are eligible to apply for it next year too.
2) Fiscal year, different from calendar year
The H-1B visa issuance is based on the fiscal year timeline not the calendar year. It is very imporant to keep this in mind while filling out your application for H-1B. Fiscal Year 2024 starts from October 1, 2023, and ends on Sep 30, 2024. USCIS starts accepting H-1B petitions for the next fiscal year about six months before the start of the fiscal year. This year, the process began from April 1, 2023.
3) Stamping and working
Applicants outside of the United States needs to get their visa stamp after their application is processed by the USCIS. This process typically takes between a few weeks to even months. Once your petition is processed, you can then take an appointment at the consulate or the embassy.
USCIS fiscal year 2024 starts from Oct 1, 2023. If your petition was approved and you got the visa stamped, you can enter the US and are eligible to work from Oct 1, 2023.
Source By: economictimes
