U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed that it will implement the new electronic H-1B registration system for the upcoming cap season. Employers seeking to file cap-subject H-1B petitions will be required to electronically register each candidate for selection in the fiscal year 2021 (FY2021) lottery. The initial electronic registration period will run from March 1, 2020, through March 20, 2020. Assuming that the number of registrations exceed the quota, USCIS will then run the lottery on the electronic submissions. Only those candidates chosen in the lottery will be authorized to have employers submit a full H-1B petition on their behalf to USCIS for adjudication.
The initial registration requires basic information about the employer, the candidate, and the potential position. Employers must pay a $10 registration fee per H-1B candidate. USCIS has said that it will provide additional information about the registration and submission processes as the initial registration period nears. In the unlikely event that the quota is not reached during the initial registration period, USCIS will provide further guidance regarding how employers can submit additional registrations.
Ogletree Deakins’ Immigration Practice Group will continue to monitor developments with respect to the H-1B electronic registration process and will post updates on the Immigration blog as additional information becomes available.
