Visa & Green Card
H-1B Lottery Timeline & Odds
Key cap-season dates, selection odds from recent years, and what to do at each milestone. Launching soon.
What this tool will do
- Interactive cap-season timeline with every registration, selection, and filing milestone
- Historical registration counts and selection odds, year over year
- What to do at each stage — for beneficiaries and employers
- Second-round (and third-round) selection tracking
The data pipeline and page are already wired — we're finishing the dataset. Meanwhile, explore the live tools →
Last updated: · Source: USCIS H-1B Cap Season
Frequently asked questions
When does the H-1B lottery happen each year?
Electronic registration typically opens in early March and closes in late March, with initial selections announced by March 31. Selected employers file petitions starting April 1, and approved H-1Bs begin October 1 — the start of the federal fiscal year.
What are the odds of being selected in the H-1B lottery?
Odds depend on registration volume: 85,000 visas (65,000 regular + 20,000 US-master's) are drawn from recent registration pools that have ranged from roughly 350,000 to over 750,000, putting single-registration odds anywhere from ~15% to ~35%. The beneficiary-centric system (one entry per person regardless of employers) has made odds more uniform since 2024.