H-1B Lottery Is Done

Lottery

It is said that this year's lottery selection for H-1B petitions has been done. H-1B is a status that authorizes someone to work legally in the United States. For most international students, if you want to work in the US after school to get some experience, or eventually stay, it's a must step to go through.

This year, the number of H-1B petitions is 236,000, while there are only 85,000 openings in total. Therefore, the chance of getting selected is about 36%. All my friends that entered this selection are waiting for the results, with some anxiety, as you can tell -- if you're not selected and use up the student working time, the only choice is going back home.

This selection process happened to me four years ago, although it was not as competitive at that time -- the US was slowly recovering from the 2008 financial crisis, and companies were just becoming willing to sponsor foreigners again. I heard that there were just as many petitions as the openings, so I got it as expected. Got lucky that it was not this year? Yes. But would it be the end of world if I were not selected? No.

A lottery like this does send people to different future paths. The upsetting part is that it's beyond one's control, so you have to let it be.

However, I truly believe a great and diligent person can succeed anywhere.

Best of luck to all my friends!