14,534 H1B Registrations Selected in FY 2025 Second Round, All Notified

As most of you know, USCIS announced last week, July 30th, 2024, that they would need to conduct a second round H1B lottery for the Fiscal Year(FY) 2025 season as they did not receive a sufficient number of H1B petitions from the first round selected applications.

Today, they announced that they have completed the second round of the H1B Lottery for the FY 2025 season and informed all the selected applicants. They gave guidance in the press release on how to proceed for the selected applicants. In this article, we will give a summary of the press release, how many were selected, how it would work for selected applicants, and FAQs.

Background of H1B FY 2025 Second Round Lottery, Results

Earlier this year, USCIS opened the H1B registration period for the Fiscal Year(FY) 2025 season between Marchrch 6th, 2024, and March 25th, 2024. During that time, USCIS got about 480,000 H1B registrations. On April 1st, 2024, they made an announcement that the first round lottery for the H1B FY 2025 season was completed, and all were notified.

As part of the H1B lottery first round USCIS selected 120,603 H1B Registrations. As USCIS did not get sufficient H1B visa applications/petitions from those selected in the first round, on July 30th, 2024, they announced that they would need to run a second round lottery to select more applicants.

There has been no official update from USCIS since the announcement. Many attorneys and users from the community shared updates that the second-round lottery results were out and that they received selection notifications starting from August 1st, 2024. There second round lottery results were trickling in for couple of days and nothing came since Friday of last week. You can read full summary with timeline of updates at: H1B 2025 Second Round Lottery Results out, Updates Summary.

Now that we have background, let’s dive in to today’s official update from USCIS.

USCIS Selects 14,534 H1B Registrations in Second Round Lottery for FY 2025

USCIS made an official announcement earlier today, August 5th, 2025, that they have completed the second round of random selection, aka H1B Lottery, for the H1B registrations previously submitted during the registration period in March 2024.

Below is the summary of the news alert from USCIS on second-round H1B lottery completion:

• Selected Sufficient H1B Registrations in Second Round Lottery: USCIS says that based on their projections they have selected sufficient number of H1B registrations to meet the H1B regular cap for FY 2025 Season.
• All Notifications Sent for Second Round Lottery: USCIS says that they have notified all the employers, who had H1B selections in the second round lottery, which was conducted for the FY 2025 Season. Basically, if your employer has not received any notification yet, you were not selected in the second round.
• USCIS Selected 14,534 H1B Registrations in the Second Round: USCIS updated saying that 14,534 H1B registrations were selected in the second round to meet the regular cap. The total second-round selections resulted in 13,607 unique applicants selected. This number was not part of the press release but was updated as part of the H1B registration page.
• Total 135,137 H1B Registrations Selected for FY 2025 Season: In the first round, USCIS selected 120,603 H1B registrations, and in the Second round, they selected 14,534. As of now, if we add up the total selections in the first and second rounds, USCIS has selected 135,137(120603+14534) H1B registrations so far.
• Only Companies with Selected Registrations can file H1B petitions: USCIS says only the petitioners/employers who selected H1B registrations in the second round lottery can file the H1B cap-subject petition for FY 2025. If you were selected in the first round and missed filing before, you cannot file an H1B petition now for the first-round selections.
• No Masters Cap Second Round H1B Lottery Conducted: As USCIS received enough H1B petitions for the US Masters cap from the first round selections, they said that they did not conduct any second round H1B lottery for the US Mater’s quota cap.
• Submit H1B petition online or correct location within 90 Days: USCIS said that petitioners should file the H1B petition either online at my.uscis.gov or at the relevant filing location listed by them for the Form I-129 within 90 days from the selection date. As per the sample selection notice of the second round H1 Lottery, you must file an H1B petition anytime between 08/08/2024 and 11/07/2024.
• Employers must establish eligibility for petition approval: As per USCIS, just getting selected in the H1B lottery does not mean the H1B petition will be approved. The employers must submit all the documents relevant for the H1B petition to establish that the petition meets all the regulatory requirements of the H1B Visa.
• Submit Correct Fee, Correct Edition Form: USCIS mentioned the adjusted fees and said that they are effective from April 1st, 2024. FYI, the change in the Application Fee, which is for Form I-129 Form as listed below:
  • Paper Filing: $780 plus additional fee as applicable
  • Online Filing: $730 plus additional fee as applicable
  • For small companies with less than or equal to 25 employees and non-profits
    • Paper Filing: $460 plus additional fee as applicable
    • Online Filing: $460 plus additional fee as applicable
  • Also, USCIS said they Employers need to use “04/01/24 edition” of the I-129 form for FY 2025 season
• Premium Processing Fee Change: USCIS re-iterated the H1B premium processing fee changes that were effective from Feb 26, 2024 and said they would reject the petitions without proper fee. The premium processing fee is $2805.

H1B Lottery Submissions and Selections Trend from FY 2021 to FY 2025

Below is a table that gives the total number of H1B Registrations submitted with USCIS and how many were selected for the Fiscal Year from FY 2021 to FY 2025. This includes all the multiple rounds of selections that were done in the respective years.

If we plot the above data in a graph, it gives an idea to understand the overall trend. Below is the screenshot of the overall trend of the H1B registrations submitted vs. H1B lottery selections from FY 2021 to FY 2025

Common FAQs

What do you think of the total selections in the second round H1B lottery? Your thoughts? Share your inputs in the comments section below.

Also, you may read next steps after H1B Lottery selection for more info on what happens next.

Reference: USCIS press alert – Second round completed