Country of birth barely matters when you enter the H-1B lottery, and it matters enormously afterward. The H-1B program by country breaks down along two very different lines: a random annual draw that treats every nationality the same, and a permanent residency system that caps each country at 7% of employment-based green cards. That second rule is why an Indian-born engineer and a British-born engineer, hired the same week for the same job, can end up on timelines that differ by a decade or more.
Who Actually Gets H-1B Visas
Federal law caps new H-1B visas at 65,000 per fiscal year, plus 20,000 reserved for workers holding a U.S. master’s degree or higher.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1184 – Admission of Nonimmigrants USCIS runs a random electronic lottery among registrations, and since 2024 each beneficiary gets one chance regardless of how many employers register them.2U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Electronic Registration Frequently Asked Questions Nationality plays no role in selection.
The results, however, are extremely concentrated. In FY 2024, workers born in India accounted for 71% of all H-1B approvals (283,397 people), and China came in second at 11.7% (46,680). The remaining eight countries in the top ten made up about 7% combined.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Characteristics of H-1B Specialty Occupation Workers Fiscal Year 2024
- India: 283,397 (71.0%)
- China: 46,680 (11.7%)
- Philippines: 5,248 (1.3%)
- Canada: 4,222 (1.1%)
- South Korea: 3,983 (1.0%)
- Mexico: 3,333
- Taiwan: 3,099
- Pakistan: 3,052
- Brazil: 2,638
- Nigeria: 2,273
The concentration is even sharper for renewals. Indian and Chinese beneficiaries together account for 89% of continuing-employment approvals, compared to 71% of initial approvals.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Characteristics of H-1B Specialty Occupation Workers Fiscal Year 2024 The reason is straightforward: these workers keep renewing H-1B status year after year because they can’t move to permanent residency.
Dedicated Visa Tracks for Three Countries
Three nationalities have their own specialty-occupation visa categories created by trade agreements, letting professionals skip the H-1B lottery entirely.
H-1B1 for Chile and Singapore
Free trade agreements signed in 2003 set aside 1,400 slots each year for Chilean nationals and 5,400 for Singaporean nationals, carved out of the overall 65,000 H-1B cap.4United States Trade Representative. Chile and Singapore FTAs: Temporary Entry of Professionals Applicants apply directly at a U.S. consulate rather than going through the electronic registration lottery. Unused slots roll into the following year’s regular H-1B pool.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H-1B Cap Season
E-3 for Australia
Australian citizens have the E-3 visa, created by the 2005 U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement, with up to 10,500 available each year.6U.S. Department of Labor. E-3 Program Standard H-1B status maxes out at six years, but E-3 status can be renewed indefinitely in two-year increments with no cap on the number of extensions.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. E-3 Specialty Occupation Workers from Australia That makes the E-3 one of the most favorable temporary work visas in the U.S. system.
The 7% Green Card Cap Is Where Country Matters
Federal law limits any single country to no more than 7% of the employment-based green cards issued each fiscal year.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S.C. 1152 – Numerical Limitations on Individual Foreign States With roughly 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas available annually, that works out to about 9,800 green cards per country.9U.S. Department of State. Employment-Based Immigrant Visas For countries that send relatively few H-1B workers, the cap almost never binds. For India, where demand vastly exceeds the allocation, it produces backlogs measured in years and, for some categories, decades.
The Department of State publishes a monthly Visa Bulletin showing which “priority dates” are currently being processed. A priority date is essentially a timestamp marking your place in line. The December 2025 Visa Bulletin shows the divergence bluntly:
- India, EB-2: processing applications with priority dates of May 15, 2013
- China, EB-2: processing June 1, 2021
- All other countries, EB-2: processing February 1, 2024
An Indian-born worker filing an EB-2 application today faces a wait of well over a decade. A worker born in most other countries would wait roughly two years for the same category.10U.S. Department of State. Visa Bulletin for December 2025
Chargeability: Birthplace, Not Citizenship
The per-country cap tracks country of birth, not current citizenship or residence. An Indian-born engineer who later became a Canadian citizen still falls under India’s quota. That concept, called chargeability, occasionally cuts the other way: if you were born in a country with no backlog but your spouse was born in India, you may be able to “cross-charge” to your spouse’s country, or vice versa, under limited circumstances. For most applicants, though, your birthplace is your line.
Staying in H-1B Status Past Six Years
Standard H-1B status lasts a maximum of six years. For workers from countries without green card backlogs, that’s usually enough time to obtain permanent residency. For Indian-born workers looking at a wait of a decade or more, it isn’t close.
The American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act (AC21) provides two extension routes:11U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employment Authorization for Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses
- If the employer filed a PERM labor certification or I-140 immigrant petition at least 365 days before the six-year limit and it’s still pending, the worker can extend H-1B status one year at a time with no cap on renewals.
- If the I-140 is approved but no visa number is available due to the per-country backlog, the worker can extend in three-year increments.
In practice, AC21 keeps hundreds of thousands of Indian-born H-1B workers in legal status while they wait for a green card number. Without these extensions, the per-country cap would push experienced professionals out of the country long before their turn.
Work Authorization for H-4 Spouses
H-1B holders can bring a spouse and unmarried children under 21 on H-4 dependent visas. H-4 status by itself doesn’t include work authorization, but a spouse can apply for an Employment Authorization Document if the H-1B holder meets one of two conditions:11U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employment Authorization for Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses
- The H-1B holder has an approved I-140 immigrant petition.
- The H-1B holder has an AC21 extension beyond six years.
Both triggers are tied to the green card process, which means H-4 work authorization is disproportionately relevant for families from India and China. A spouse of an H-1B worker from a country without backlogs typically transitions to permanent residency, and unrestricted work authorization, well before six years is up. Spouses of Indian-born workers may spend years on H-4 status before qualifying for the EAD and must renew the authorization periodically throughout the wait.