H1B Lottery Selected: Your Next Steps After Selection

When your registration is selected, USCIS is telling your employer: you may now file a full, cap-subject H-1B petition for this person. The clock that matters now is the filing window — historically at least 90 days from the selection notice. Inside that window, your employer’s immigration attorney has to obtain a certified Labor Condition Application (LCA) and assemble the Form I-129 petition with supporting evidence. Your job as the beneficiary is to be organized, responsive, and cautious — especially about travel — until the petition is approved.

Not every selected registration turns into a filed petition. Business needs change, budgets shift, and occasionally an employer decides not to proceed. So the first step is to remove all ambiguity. Ask your employer (and its attorney) in writing to confirm they are filing your cap-subject petition, and ask for a realistic filing date within the window. Getting this in email protects you and gives you a paper trail if timing questions come up later.

A well-documented petition moves faster and draws fewer RFEs. For Indian applicants, the degree and specialty-occupation evidence matters most — USCIS wants to see that your role genuinely requires a bachelor’s degree (or higher) in a specific field, and that your qualifications match.

Before filing, the employer files a Labor Condition Application (LCA, Form ETA-9035) with the Department of Labor, attesting to the required wage and working conditions for your role and location. LCA certification typically takes about seven business days. Once certified, the LCA is included in the H-1B petition. The employer then files Form I-129 (Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker) with USCIS, along with the selection notice, the LCA, fees, and your supporting documents. If you are already in the US in valid status, the petition usually also requests a change of status to H-1B; if you are abroad, it requests consular notification for visa stamping.

Cap-subject H-1B employment normally starts October 1. You cannot begin H-1B work before that date based on the cap-subject approval. If you are on F-1 OPT ending before then, cap-gap may bridge you — and it can run past October 1, until April 1 of the relevant fiscal year or the approved petition’s start date, whichever is earlier. See the F-1 OPT guide. On travel: leaving the US while a change-of-status petition is pending can be risky, and re-entry may require fresh visa stamping with possible administrative processing. Confirm with your attorney before booking anything.