The H-1B Lottery: The Immigration Equivalent of Finding a Four-Leaf Clover

Nir Save & Pareen Mhatre

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While we welcome everyone to read this, this post is intended for those who are unfamiliar with the U.S. immigration system, its laws, and how it affects the group commonly known as “Documented Dreamers.”

“Isn’t it crazy how the H-1B lottery typically falls in the same month as St. Patrick’s Day?” St. Patrick’s Day, while originating as a holiday that celebrates the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick, is now widely associated with a celebration of luck and faith. Commercial brands have already launched their St. Patrick’s Day limited-time products in full force. Between McDonald’s Shamrock Shake and Krispy Kreme’s themed donuts, it’s almost poetic that employment-based immigration gets its own limited-time opportunity in the form of the annual H-1B lottery.

The H-1B program is a nonimmigrant visa created by Congress under the Immigration Act of 1990 that enables employers to hire foreign workers on a temporary basis, with a pathway to permanent residency (and later, citizenship). These visa holders are required by law to have specialized skills in their fields and at least a bachelor’s degree. The Immigration Act of 1990, signed by President George H.W. Bush, set two main numerical limits: 1) a 65,000 yearly cap on new H-1B applications and 2) 140,000 employment-based green cards annually (you can read more about this here). In addition to the 65,000 cap, there is another 20,000 H-1B petition quota reserved for those who have a master’s degree or higher.

For FY 2025, U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received almost 480,000 unique H-1B applications. As a result of the high volume of petitions and the annual 65,000 quota, a lottery system is put in place to randomly select H-1B applications to process.

The initial H-1B registration for FY 2026 started on March 7th, 2025 and will end on March 20th. During this time, prospective applicants will register with USCIS online to start the selection process. Then, there is a random selection, i.e. a lottery, that occurs. The acceptance rate for the lottery system runs fairly low for the amount of applicants there are, calculating to less than 17% in FY 2025. If selected, applicants are allowed a 90-day period to file their H-1B petitions, and on October 1st of the fiscal year, the registrant’s H-1B status is officially active.

By now, it’s no secret that the U.S. immigration system is a convoluted labyrinth of processes and applications, with each door leading to a new nested labyrinth within itself. The H-1B program is just the tip of the iceberg before you start digging through the intricacies of employment-based immigration.

Children of H-1B visa holders who age out of the system confront a cyclical irony - applying for the same H-1B visa that once marked the beginning of their parents’ journey in the United States. Arguably, these children’s journey is even more arduous and unsteady as they age out in the middle of their most pivotal college years. They must, at a minimum, seek out a legal way to complete their education through an international student visa, sometimes change their aspirations to qualify as “skilled workers”, and gain relevant work experience before they brave the H-1B lottery.

These young individuals seek out temporary visas and work authorizations, taking the leap each time with the same apprehension as an explorer taking precarious leaps onto stepping stones across a raging river. They feel anything but lucky as they navigate through an entire network of visas to stay and maintain legal status in the only country they’ve called ‘home’.

They weave through the labyrinth with other foreign students and workers who are embarking on their immigration journey for the first time, with a startling ~17%* chance of success dictating their entire future.

With these odds, even a little bit of luck will go a long way for those entering the FY 2026 lottery this month. And so, while St. Patrick’s Day will undoubtedly bring everyone some luck this spring, we’re hoping that these H-1B lottery applicants get just a little extra.

*Statistic derived from H-1B acceptance rates from FY 2025.

Improve The Dream is a youth-led advocacy organization bringing awareness for over 200,000 children of long-term visa holders who face self-deportation, despite growing up in the United States with a documented status.

If you know someone who is a Documented Dreamer, please share the following link so they can join our advocacy community to stay updated and connect with other Documented Dreamers: ImproveTheDream.org/survey.