US H1B visa: Ways to improve your chances with lottery process

The American dream is something many people aspire to achieve, but the pursuit of it can be challenging due to the severely limited availability of H1-B visas. This is because there are many times more applicants than there are available visas, leading to a lottery system. However, there are ways to increase your chances of being selected in the lottery process, such as having multiple employers file for the same employee.

Rajiv S. Khanna, managing attorney at the Immigration.com Law Offices of Rajiv S. Khanna, PC, suggests that filing multiple H1-B lottery applications for the same employee can significantly increase the chances of being selected.  “Imagine this, if you buy one lottery ticket, you have only that much chance of winning. But, if you buy 10 lottery tickets, you have 10 times better chances.”

However, certain serious legal considerations must be taken into account.

When can multiple employer file H1-B lottery for the same individual?

Khanna explains, if the two employers who are filing are not related, they can file for the same individual. In case they are related, they may be suspected of gaming the system. Even if they have common stockholders, common officers, or even common projects, they could be violating the law. 

“The employers must sign under penalty of perjury that they are not attempting to cheat the system, which is punishable by up to five years in prison.”

 However, larger organizations can file for the same individual through different units if the jobs are genuine. 

“Let's say I work for Google and I am the VP HR and I have two openings for a senior accountant, one in our consulting unit, and one in our products unit. So because these two jobs are genuine, and these two units are separate, I may be allowed to file multiple H1-B's for the same individual to the same organization.”

It is essential to remember that filing multiple H1-B lottery applications does not guarantee success. It merely increases the odds of being selected. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the legal considerations and to have a solid strategy when pursuing H1-B visas.