H1B is not meant to bring smartest engineers. O-1 visa is for that purpose. H1B is meant to bring generic engineers who have Bachelor's degree or above.
The O-1 is meant to bring in Nobel Peace Prize winners. It just turns out that, on paper, and according to the US, they tend to have a lot in common with developers.
Wow, then I sure do know a lot of Nobel winners. (joke) They hand these out to professional musicians all the time. They are fantastic musicians, each one of these 0-oners. But we also have fantastic musicians here in the US. We are wall-to-wall with underemployed, incredibly well trained, very low paid, top-notch musicians in NYC. In fact, I don't know a single musician who is upset about the O1s being handed out. We are happy to play with a wide variety of players. It helps the art, frankly. But what we would like to see more of, many of us, is a reciprocation from other countries, so the arts can become more fluid. This would help raise the level everywhere. The problem is, the door just swings one way a lot of the time. It is very difficult for an American musician to get an orchestral job in Europe. When they do, we all cheer. The current concertmaster of Berlin Phil is an American. But he's the violin version of a Nobel winner. Our orchestras are filled with Europeans, Russians, Chinese, Japanese, etc.
No, you just need great documentation of your accomplishments and an excellent lawyer who knows how to handle the process. $$ It helps if you have done original work, and if a well known/internationally famous person in your field (or several) vouches for you in the form of a recommendation letter.
GC lottery depends on where you were born and countries with a certain amount of immigration do not get to participate in the lottery. India almost certainly is one of those countries that doesn't get to participate. Others are Mexico, Canada, probably China and Philippines too.
