New Delhi: Here’s good news for Indian IT professionals employed in America!  The US will conduct a rare second lottery for the non-immigrant visa which will give them another chance to acquire H-1B visa. The second lottery will help the US to decide on the successful applicants.


According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) the decision has been taken after it the computerised draw of lots for H-1B visas conducted early this year did not make the cut for the number of Congressional mandated H-1B visas.


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 "On July 28, we selected previously submitted electronic registrations using a random selection process," the USCIS said in a statement. The petition filing period based on registrations selected on July 28 will begin on August 2 and close on November 3. Individuals with selected registrations will have their myUSCIS accounts updated to include a selection notice, which includes details of when and where to file, it said.


How it will help Indian professionals?


It will provide a sigh of relief for those Indian techies who were unable to make in the first random selection. The H-1B visa is much sought-after among IT professionals, under which US companies employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on this visa to employ employees each year from countries like India and China.


According to the agency, only those petitioners with selected registrations for FY 2022 are eligible to file H-1B cap-subject petitions. The initial filing period for those with selected registrations for FY 2022 was from April 1, 2021, through June 30, 2021.


It also stated that H-1B cap-subject petition must be properly filed at the correct service center and within the filing period indicated on the relevant registration selection notice. Online filing is not available for H-1B petitions. Petitioners filing H-1B petitions must do so by paper and must include a printed copy of the applicable registration selection notice with the FY 2022 H-1B cap-subject petition.