H-1B Visa Season Starts Early

In light of the recent announcement by USCIS that they will be utilizing a new online H-1B visa registration process to conduct how H-1B petitions will be chosen in its lottery selection system, employers and foreign nationals will now be working under a shortened timeframe to prepare their H-1B petitions. Under this new process, employers must submit an electronic registration containing information about the company and each H-1B beneficiary between March 1, 2020 and March 20, 2020.  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.  Employers will then have 90 days to submit a full H-1B visa petition on behalf of the foreign worker named in the registration.

Because demand by U.S. employers for H-1B visas on behalf of “highly-skilled” foreign employees is, once again, at high levels it is expected that the 85,000 available H-1B visas will be gone by March 20, 2020. Therefore, employers and foreign nationals seeking to work in the U.S. should start preparing their H-1B visa filings NOW. 

Employers should assess their upcoming workforce needs and identify whether any foreign national employees will require H-1B visa sponsorship. These individuals may include:

• New graduating foreign students in the U.S.

• Overseas individuals seeking to start work in the U.S.

• Foreign individuals in the U.S. already working under a different nonimmigrant status for a different employer and are seeking to change jobs

Failure to file your H-1B registration by March 20, 2020 will prevent you from securing an H-1B visa for your employee. After the 2020 H-1B visas are gone, employers will have to wait until March 1, 2021 to file H-1B registrations again, and foreign employees may lose their lawful status and authorization to work. The clock is ticking…don't delay!

If you have any questions about the H-1B visa process, contact me.