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The 2025 H-1B visa lottery registration period starts today, March 7, 2025, at 12pm EST and runs until 12pm EST on March 24. The government issues 85,000 H-1B visa numbers each year, 20,000 of which are set aside specifically for US masters degree holders. This is the one and only opportunity each year for employers to secure a chance to sponsor their talented foreign professionals for a longer term work visa. Interested employers can register any number of foreign professionals over the next two weeks, and USCIS will notify employers about any selected registrants by the end of March. These employers will then have 90 days, from April 1, 2025 until June 30, 2025, to file an H-1B visa petition with USCIS. Upon approval of the H-1B petition, the worker can start H-1B employment from October 1, 2025.

To qualify for an H-1B visa, the foreign professional must (1) undertake a “specialty occupation” designated as a professional level job requiring a minimum of a bachelor degree in a specific specialty or academic discipline, and (2) possess a minimum of a bachelor degree in a directly related academic discipline. H-1B workers get a maximum of six years of work authorization, with the potential for extensions beyond the six-year period if the worker is sponsored for permanent residence (“green card”). Please contact our team if you employ any F-1 international students, or other foreign nationals on temporary work visas who would benefit from the chance for a longer-term nonimmigrant visa.

Who Needs an H-1B Visa?

In light of the Trump administration’s intention to make sweeping changes to immigration policy and the significant steps it has already taken in one month to limit or end certain humanitarian-based immigration programs, it is only a matter of time before work  visa programs come under scrutiny. Employers should take inventory of any foreign workers they employ and review with counsel whether it would be beneficial to register them for the H-1B lottery.  While there is no guarantee the worker will win the lottery, this opportunity only comes once per year.

While we have not always urged employers to register foreign professionals who are employed pursuant to some other employer-sponsored work visa or have some other basis for work, the current political headwinds demand that employers of foreign professionals take a different approach by trying to secure a more stable work visa, such as H-1B, for these individuals. We urge employers to consider registering any current or future employees who are present in the U.S. under the following categories due to possible program vulnerabilities:

• TN visas for Canadian and Mexican professionals; E-3 visas for Australians; and H-1B1 visas for Chileans

The TN, E-3 and H-1B1 professional work visas are authorized by free trade agreements between the US and Canada (TN), Mexico (TN), Australia (E-3), Chile (H-1B1) and Singapore (H-1B1) respectively. When he took office, President Trump signed the America First Trade Policy placing a heavy focus on issuing restrictive international trade measures, such as tariffs on foreign trading partners, signaling his intention to significantly reshape international trade in an effort to prioritize US economic interests. These efforts could undermine free trade provisions that support the transfer of professional foreign labor to the US, such as the TN, E-3 and H-1B1 work visa programs. For example, the free trade agreement known as the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA formerly known as NAFTA), which authorizes TN visas, is scheduled for a standard review in July 2026, but the Trump administration may use the opportunity to substantially renegotiate the agreement. In light of the uncertainty over the outcome of any renegotiations, employers may want to consider transitioning workers on free trade visas, such as TN, E-3 and H-1B1, to the H-1B visa which stands on firmer ground because it was created through legislation passed by Congress rather than a trade agreement.

• F-1 student visas

International students on F-1 visas are eligible for a limited amount of full-time schoolwork authorization after graduation called optional practical training (OPT). Students can get 1-3 years of OPT depending on whether they completed a qualifying STEM degree. An international student must have another basis for work authorization by the time OPT ends to continue employment. Since lottery selection is not guaranteed, an employer should register any F-1 OPT workers for the H-1B lottery in each available year to maximize their chance of selection.

• J-1 exchange visitor visas

The J-1 visa is for various types of foreign exchange. There are several different J-1 visa exchange programs including those for interns, trainees, short term scholars, professors, and foreign doctors, among others. Interns and trainees receive only 12-18 months of work authorization, so the H-1B lottery offers the possibility of more stable, longer term work authorization.

• L-1 visas for managerial and specialized knowledge workers

L-1 visas are for intracompany transfers of managers/executives (L-1A) and specialized knowledge workers (L-1B). They provide 7 and 5 years of work authorization respectively but cannot be extended beyond that period. Citizens of many countries, such as India and China, face lengthy multi-year backlogs for green cards, so if a green card has not been approved by the end the L-1 maximum time, the worker would lose the ability to work. Transitioning Chinese or Indian L-1 workers to H-1B status  would better ensure their continuous work authorization through indefinite extensions until the worker achieves permanent residence.

• L-2S, E-2S and H-4 Spouses

Spouses in derivative dependent statuses such as L-2S, E-2S and some spouses in H-4 status, are eligible for work authorization, but their ability to work is wholly dependent on the principal spouse worker maintaining valid L-1, E-2 or H-1B status. If the Trump administration slows down immigration benefit processing as it did during Trump’s first term, workers in these categories are vulnerable to gaps in work authorization and losing their jobs.  In addition, the first Trump administration tried to rescind work permits for H-4 spouses which, if this administration recycles that effort, makes work permits for dependent spouses even more vulnerable. H-1B status would better secure their ability to work.

• E-1 or E-2 treaty investor and trader visas

E-1 and E-2 visas are temporary nonimmigrant visas authorized by qualifying investment or trade treaties that the US has with various countries. They authorize the transfer of managers, executives and specialists who are citizens of a qualifying treaty country to help operate a US investment enterprise or trade operation. An H-1B visa would be beneficial for E-1 or E-2 workers who wish to pursue permanent residence (green card) and must maintain the unrestricted ability to travel throughout the lengthy green card process. H-1B status is codified as a “dual intent” nonimmigrant status which means the worker can safely pursue a green card while enjoying unrestricted travel throughout. On the other hand, E-1 and E-2 status are single intent nonimmigrant statuses which only permit temporary stays in the US, so attempting to reenter the US under E-1/E-2 visa with a pending green card process could be perceived as a status violation. An H-1B visa for this subset of workers would allow them the freedom to travel internationally and carry on their jobs without skipping a beat.

• Temporary Protected Status (TPS)

TPS is a humanitarian immigration benefit issued to citizens of countries facing catastrophic or humanitarian crises such as natural disasters or civil wars. TPS individuals are eligible for work permits called employment authorization documents (EAD). TPS designation usually lasts for two years and must be re-designated by the US government. The Trump administration has already taken steps to end TPS designation for certain countries such as Venezuela and Haiti, and there could be more on the horizon. An employer should register qualifying TPS workers for the H-1B lottery to better secure their ability to work.