US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) held not one, not two, but three lotteries in an effort to dole out its allotment of 85,000 H-1B visas for the fiscal year 2022. Typically, there are far more registrations than available visas, and candidates have just a 30-40% chance of being selected, so this third draw was unprecedented.
This rare third lottery happened because not enough employers completed applications for the names drawn in the first two lotteries. There were still hundreds of thousands of applicants waiting in line for both the 65,000 visas allocated to the general category and for the 20,000 visas allocated to applicants with higher degrees earned in the US
While a third lottery is exciting news for folks who were, and are, still waiting their turn, an H-1B drawing so late in the game — and so close to next year’s H-1B cap season — might only make immigration more complicated for workers, companies, and the immigration lawyers who support them.
In this article, we dive into the background of this year’s unprecedented third H-1B lottery, share some thoughts on why it might have happened, and explain why Canada’s immigration policies, especially the Global Talent Stream, are so important right now for foreign nationals and tech companies in the US
Let’s jump in.
USCIS’s rare third H-1B lottery may be too little too late for tech companies and immigration lawyers
Since early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has derailed plans for both workers and companies for almost two years. Travel was restricted into the US, international students were forced to return home, and H-1B workers were laid off. Other than foreign healthcare workers, few others were allowed into the US, and many industries were in decline.
The fact that this third lottery almost overlaps with the start of next year’s H-1B cap season only threatens to further complicate an already complicated visa process for companies, foreign nationals, and immigration lawyers alike.
This year’s third H-1B lottery was indeed a unique opportunity for applicants who weren’t selected in the two previous lotteries. But while this was a bit of good news for those waiting their turn, a third lottery more than six months after they initially filed for the H-1B was, for some, too little too late.
Anecdotally, some folks waiting for an H-1B visa might have already left the US and found a new job elsewhere. It is also possible that impatient employers rescinded job offers after this year’s first (or even second) H-1B lottery didn’t draw their registrant’s name.
Plus, the longer the H-1B lottery process drags on, the closer we get to next fiscal year’s H-1B cap season. The fact that this third lottery almost overlaps with the start of next year’s H-1B cap season only threatens to further complicate an already complicated visa process for companies, foreign nationals, and immigration lawyers alike.
The unprecedented H-1B process this year only emphasizes how risky it is for companies to rely solely on the H-1B visa to hire skilled workers, especially in the IT sector. Fortunately, Canada is a great alternative for companies that want to bring these skilled tech workers into North America.
Canada’s Global Talent Stream offers an alternative to the H-1B visa
One of the best routes into North America for skilled tech workers is the Global Talent Stream (GTS) which Canada launched in 2017 as a way to attract highly skilled workers. Since its founding, tens of thousands of skilled foreign workers have moved to Canada via GTS.
GTS has enabled Canadian companies to grow with specialized talent from all over the world, and it has drawn thousands of highly skilled professionals to Canada.
The GTS — part of Canada’s Global Skills Strategy — empowers Canadian employers to speed up the process of hiring foreign workers to fill specialized jobs. In less than two weeks you can get authorization to work in Canada through GTS, which is hands down Canada’s fastest immigration pathway for workers.
To be eligible, you must have a job offer from a Canadian employer that is seeking workers for a unique, specialized, or high-skilled and in-demand occupation that can be found on a Global Talent Occupations List – a list that is updated frequently.
The Global Talent Stream is a popular immigration pathway for two main reasons: expedited processing means that workers can have a work permit in approximately 10 days, and the program is an excellent pathway to permanent immigration to Canada. You only need one year of Canadian work experience to qualify for permanent residency.
GTS has enabled Canadian companies to grow with specialized talent from all over the world, and it has drawn thousands of highly skilled professionals to Canada.
In recent years, many tech workers who might have considered the US in the past are instead opting for Canada because of the challenges, complexity, and confusion of America’s immigration policies, especially for their H-1B visa.
This may be easy for companies with an office in Canada. But for the majority of US companies that don’t have a Canadian presence, can you still take advantage of Canada’s GTS program?
The answer is a resounding yes.
And the way you do that is with a PEO.
US companies can hire in Canada through a PEO and avoid the H-1B program
A professional employer organization (PEO) — like Syndesus — enables a US-based company to remotely hire international professionals abroad (in this example, in Canada). Legally, the PEO hires the employee and keeps them on the PEO’s Canadian payroll.
The PEO handles all the technical aspects of employment like handing out paychecks, managing employee benefits, payroll, HR, and more. This way the employer can focus on the day-to-day management of their employees while the PEO handles all the nitty-gritty details.
As a PEO, Syndesus can hire your current, or prospective, US employee in Canada on behalf of your company if you don’t have a legal presence in Canada.
The company still controls the employee’s day-to-day responsibilities, pays their salary, can offer stock options or other benefits, and more. Essentially, it’s as if the US company had an office in Canada.
It’s a win for the company since they hire or retain a key employee. And it’s a win for the individual who may be tired of the H-1B lottery or wants to avoid it altogether.
Let Syndesus help you hire the talent you need and avoid the H-1B lottery process
As a PEO, Syndesus can hire your current, or prospective, US employee in Canada on behalf of your company if you don’t have a legal presence in Canada. As mentioned above, Syndesus takes care of the immigration, billing, HR, legal and other paperwork, and, once approved, the employee can move to Canada and keep working!
Reach out to us to learn more about how we help US companies keep skilled tech workers by moving them up to Canada.
And if you’re a tech worker in the US and you’re looking to move to Canada and work for a Canadian company, join our Path to Canada database to get matched with a Canadian tech employer!
