Work VisaAug 17, 2019
Newqwerty ui

How does The visa lottery work

Internation student here. Can someone explain to me how the visa lottery work? Is it true that only 20% of the H1B applicants get it? What happens to the remaining 80%? is it even worth it to seek for internships in the US ?

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Oracle TLead Aug 17, 2019

To start with there is no lottery for interns. If you are a full time employee then there are 85000 visas and 200000 applicants. Out of 85000 visas, 65000 are for everyone, 20000 are for folks with Masters and PhDs. There’s this thing called Google where you could find information.

Qualcomm dynasty001 Aug 17, 2019

Whats Google ? Is it a site where i can search for stuff and all ?

Trimble dead/beef Aug 17, 2019

Google? Is that like a bulletin board? Do I have to go to the nearest sheriff's office to look at it?

Tesla Mr. Soze Aug 17, 2019

Much to learn you have my young internationttice

Uber biyfc545 Aug 17, 2019

Guys the op is asking a question. If you have an answer give it. No need for all the sarcasm

Trimble dead/beef Aug 17, 2019

85000 visas are available a year. So they process only 85000 petitions. Out of which some applications may not be approved. So the actual approved visas per year may be less than 85000. But it is definitely not 20000. It should be at least 50000. Anyways the method to select 85,000 petitions among more than 200,000 potential petitions is "random lottery". The good news for students who study in the US is that there is a quota of 20,000 petitions amongst the 85,000 petitions. So ONLY your petition and other students petitions will be in the lottery for the first 20,000 lottery selection. After that your petition, other students and the rest of the petitions will be in the lottery for the remaining 65,000. So the students have an advantage. IF your petition was selected in the lottery then they will start processing your petition. If everything looks good they will approve it. If they find something wrong they will ask for more evidence. If the evidence is not satisfactory then it will be a reject. If rejected you can continue working on your OPT and get into the same lottery cycle the next year

Oracle TLead Aug 17, 2019

The 20000 quota is for Masters and PhD students. Undergraduates from US schools fall under the 65000 quota.

Trimble dead/beef Aug 18, 2019

425k

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uqRa81 Aug 17, 2019

The only “lottery” that exists is for the immigrant lottery, that only certain people from certain, selected countries come from. However as an international student that doesn’t apply to you. As soon as you finish school, your student visa can become an OPT (Option for practical transfer) visa, which means you get to work anywhere related to your education for up to two years without sponsorship. It’s after when your 1-2 years is up, it becomes an H1B when you need to find someone to sponsor you. And in the case of H1, there is no “lottery” either, just a set quota as far as how many H1s the US accepts a year. For 2020, its 65,000. But because you’ll be an OPT, you won’t and shouldn’t have to worry about that.

Indeed 321098 Aug 17, 2019

I’m curious when is the best time of the year to start interviewing to have higher chances for H1B?