 The H-1B visa program is a lottery system for educated foreign workers in specialized fields. It's a lottery because there are far more applicants than the 85,000 visas that are available each year. Intel engineer Harshad Surdi was among the more than 400,000 applicants awaiting an answer this spring. It was definitely a huge worry. A huge worry because this was his last shot at the H-1B after graduating a couple years ago.