U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that the registration period for the fiscal year 2023 H-1B cap will open at noon Eastern on March 1 and run through noon Eastern on March 18, 2022.
In order to file a new H-1B case, employers must complete registrations using the USCIS online H-1B registration system. H-1B registration is a simple online process, where employers submit details for each candidate they intend to sponsor for a new H-1B. The online form avoids extra paperwork and cost for employers. The cost for registration is $10 per candidate.
New H-1B cases are limited to an annual quota of 85,000. Of these, 20,000 are available to those who have earned an advanced degree from a U.S. college or university, while the remaining 65,000 are available to other qualified candidates.
USCIS introduced the concept of H-1B registration two years ago. There were 380,613 registrations filed for FY 2022 and 275,000 registrations filed for FY 2021. When USCIS receives more registrations than the annual cap of 85,000, a random lottery is run on the overall pool of registrations. Once the lottery is completed, USCIS notifies successful selections, at which point a full H-1B petition must be filed for the corresponding candidate.
Prospective H-1B cap-subject petitioners or their representatives will be able to create new accounts beginning at noon Eastern on Feb. 21. While companies can be set up in the system during this time, candidate information cannot be submitted until March 1st.
Anticipating that USCIS will receive more than 85,000 registrations by March 18th, they will run a lottery and notify successful registrants by March 31.
An H-1B cap-subject petition, including a petition for a beneficiary who is eligible for the advanced degree exemption, may only be filed by a petitioner whose registration for the beneficiary named in the H-1B petition was selected in the H-1B registration process.
Please contact your Graham Adair attorney with any specific questions, or contact us at info@grahamadair.com; +1 408 715 7067.