Now that the H1B lottery season has returned, you must be considering your chances if you plan to apply.  Here is what you may expect after looking at the patterns over the past two years and speaking with many folks who are in similar circumstances.  First, there will be significantly fewer applications than in the past.  Over 700,000 applications were submitted in 2022; by 2023, that number had dropped to about 420,000.  The days of receiving a lot of applications from consultancies seem to be over now that the charge has increased to $210.
 
Additionally, a sizable percentage of indian applicants might not be included in this year's lottery.  The difference between paying INR 850 and spending INR 170,000 is huge, and this increase will make many people reconsider.  Therefore, a sharp drop in indian applications is expected.  Additionally, American companies do not file H1Bs for every OPT candidate they have.  Many big businesses are probably going to cut back on filings as resentment of the visa program grows.  Leading tech businesses are expected to submit fewer applications than they did the previous year.
 
Trump comes next.  Increased denials, higher RFE rates, and more thorough scrutiny are all part of his comeback.  As was the case last year, a second lottery is all but guaranteed this year.  In previous years, an eleventh-hour surge of candidates caused the filing deadline to be pushed back.  This time, it didn't happen, which suggests there were less applications overall.  This is a clear sign that the figures may be lower than they were the previous year.
 
 

 

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