Immigration lawyer cites challenges, benefits and legal considerations for employers

H-1B visas have a bad rep. The lottery-based application is up to random chance. And once you get one (there’s an annual cap on the amount of visas granted), any material changes in work status need to be declared with formal amendments filed to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) - no matter how small.

Last month, the Biden administration said it found evidence of several tech companies colluding to cheat the H-1B lottery, with employers said to register the same employees multiple times to boost their chances.

And earlier in May, criticism over the use of H-1B visas reignited when several tech giants, including Google, Meta and Amazon, reportedly applied for more H-1B visas to hire foreign workers after laying off thousands of employees.

Skyrocketing use of H-1B visas

Registrations for H-1B visas, which last up to six years and are used by employers in especially the tech industry to hire foreign employees for specialty roles, have skyrocketed for the second consecutive year.

This year’s (FY 2024) computer-generated lottery saw a record 780,884 registrations – a 61% increase over the 483,927 last year, according to USCIS. Last year’s haul was up 57% from 308,613 the year before.

“It’s the biggest growth we’ve ever seen,” says Sylvia Yong, a US and Canadian Immigration Lawyer at KPMG Law.

The surge in registrants, however, doesn’t equal the number of visas actually granted,...

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