New H-1B Visa Lottery Registration Process Will Start In March

The previously proposed electronic H-1B visa registration system will officially be implemented in 2020. U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it will utilize a new online H-1B visa registration process which will dramatically shift how H-1B petitions will be chosen in its lottery selection system. 

Historically, on April 1st employers would file their full H-1B cap-subject petitions (meaning, those subject to the annual 85,000 cap on new H-1B visas) with USCIS for any H-1B worker they were seeking to sponsor.  Thereafter, USCIS would select at random eligible petitions for processing. 

The new process creates a mandatory online preregistration system whereby those employers who intend to file H-1B cap petitions will be required to submit an online registration for each potential H-1B beneficiary.  The online registration will only request information about the employer (i.e. company name, address, Federal Employer Identification Number, etc.), along with information about the intended H-1B worker (i.e. name, date of birth, citizenship, passport, and education credentials). 

The H-1B cap registration period will run from March 1 through March 20, 2020.  Employers will be required to submit a $10 non-refundable registration fee for each H-1B cap registration.  USCIS will then conduct a lottery from the pool of registrations and select registrations to meet the H-1B visa cap no later than March 31st.  Those registrations that are selected will be notified and given a 90-day window in which to file their H-1B visa petition on behalf of the foreign worker named in the original registration. 

What Employers & Foreign Nationals Should Do Now

USCIS will be posting on its website step-by-step instruction on how to complete the registration process, along with key dates and timelines as the registration period nears. 

This new system represents a significant change in the H-1B visa filing process, and as H-1B cap season rapidly approaches there appears to be a great deal of uncertainty as to whether USCIS can implement this system and technology without glitches and operation disruptions that have plagued previous visa registration systems.  Therefore, it is prudent to anticipate unforeseen technical failures that might compromise an employer’s ability to timely complete all of the prerequisite filing requirements.  As a result, employers and foreign national should begin preparing H-1B petitions NOW.  The benefit of doing so is that if your H-1B electronic registration is selected you will be able to timely file your full petition without the complications that may well arise from the short filing timeframe.

For any questions on the H-1B visa process or these changes, please feel free to contact me.