Hi everyone,
I’ve seen a lot of confusion around whether your major influences your chances of being selected in the H-1B lottery, so I wanted to open up a discussion on this.
To clarify: the H-1B lottery is random. USCIS does not consider your major, GPA, or the field you’re applying in during the initial selection process. The selection is conducted via a computer-generated random lottery.
That said, there are some indirect effects related to your major:
· Certain STEM majors (especially in high demand like Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering) are more likely to lead to job offers from H-1B sponsoring companies.
· If you have a U.S. Master’s degree, you get two chances in the lottery—first in the Master’s cap, and if not selected, then again in the regular cap.
But again, your major doesn’t directly change your odds in the lottery draw itself.