The H-1B Lottery System is Broken
As an international student or immigrant, H-1B cap-exempt opportunities have become a critical backup path to a broken lottery system.
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With the current influx of immigrants, the chances for winning the H-1B lottery (your stepping stone to a green card & long-term residency in the US) is at it’s lowest ever. Check out this chart with data regarding H-1B applications vs acceptances we pulled together:
As you can see, in fiscal year 2024, there was only a 24% chance of getting a H-1B to stay in the US long term, even after you convince your employer to sponsor you.
H-1B Cap-exempt Employers
Because of these unfavorable statistics, we recommend considering H-1B cap-exempt pathways, which allow you to bypass the visa lottery altogether. This can come in the form of finding a job at a H-1B cap-exempt employer, or enrolling in other alternative cap-exempt H-1B solutions.
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Besides the fact that H-1B cap-exempt employers have no annual cap restrictions (i.e they don't need to go through the H-1B lottery), they have the additional benefit of being able to submit a H-1B petition anytime during the fiscal year, not just during the H-1B lottery season.
This means that if your visa expires before the next lottery season, H-1B cap-exempt employers can provide an immediate solutions throughout the year.
Who are considered H-1B cap-exempt employers?
There are 4 types of employers that can be considered cap-exempt:
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1) Higher education institutions
2) Non-profit organization associated with a higher education institutions
3) Non-profit research organizations
4) Government research organizations
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We have a free resource that curates jobs from thousands of these H-1B Cap Exempt employers across the US. We hope our resources are useful for you!