India, April 17 -- The first H-1B visa lottery, although it is a travesty to call it that, under new norms and fees, seems to have helped the Indian and US firms, applicants, and American administration. The first impressions, based on media reports, and not on official data that was not released, the selection and success rates improved dramatically. This implies that the chances of the applicants, as well as the firms went up, went up, although we are sure that the entire quota was filled up, or the higher success rate would not mean anything in practical terms.

According to several law firms, the winning chances went up to 50-60 per cent, or 1:2 or more. This implies that the applications of at least one out of two applicants were app...