[vamsiraju]

Multiple registration became an issue for a couple years but the root cause for the large number of applications this year which will continue to happen is because a small change USCIS made in their application process recently which made the application process more democratic and accessible.

Prior to 2021, everyone had to submit a full application packet along with the application fees to enter the lottery. Which meant an IT staffing company had to spend ~2000 USD on immigration lawyers to prepare the application for one employee and another cheque of ~2500 USD to USCIS as application fees. The application fees would get refunded back from USCIS if the application was not picked in the lottery for 85,000 slots and the IT Staffing company would have to at minimum bear the costs they spend on lawyers preparing an application they had to submit to enter the lottery.

From 2022, USCIS I believe made a change with a good intention to reduce burden on the large number of applicants whose applications were bound to not get picked in the lottery. USCIS always received about 225,000 applications typically every year and the 85,000 slots allocated for the full year would get filled in the first week itself. USCIS made a change to the application process and allowed IT staffing companies to pre-register for the lottery by paying a nominal fee of 10 USD. They now do not have to bear any lawyer costs to enter the lottery since they do not have to submit a full application upfront.

This small change makes the whole process more democratic to a vast number of people who work at IT firms in India and allows them to apply now since they fully meet the specialized work conditions set by the H1-B visa system and the cost to enter is almost non-existent.