USCIS has notified all prospective petitioners with selected registrations that they are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for the beneficiary named in the applicable selected registration beginning April 1, 2022. The total number of registrations received by USCIS have reached the numerical allocations (H-1B cap), including the advanced degree exemption (master’s cap).
For FY 2023, USCIS received a total number of 483,927 H-1B registrations and has initially selected 127,600 registrations projected as needed to reach the FY 2023 numerical allocations. The number of registrations were much higher this year when compared to FY 2022, which had a total of 308,613 registrations – a 57% increase year over year.
For the FY 2022 Cap, USCIS conducted a second selection in July 2021 of an additional 27,717 registrations due to low filing volume from the initial selection, and also conducted a third selection in November 2021 of an additional 16,753 registrations. This resulted in a total of 131,970 selected registrations for FY 2022. Looking at the trend, it is expected that USCIS will conduct a second round of lottery selections for this year’s Cap around the beginning of July.
For each beneficiary registered, registrants’ online accounts will now show one of the following statuses:
Submitted: The registration has been submitted and is eligible for selection. If the initial selection process has been completed, this registration remains eligible, unless subsequently invalidated, for selection in any subsequent selections for the fiscal year for which it was submitted.
Based on the above, USCIS may conduct a second round of lottery for FY Cap 2023. There is no official notification on subsequent rounds as of yet.
Selected: Selected to file an H-1B cap petition.
Denied: If multiple registrations were submitted by or on behalf of the same registrant for the same beneficiary, the registration is denied. If denied as a duplicate registration, all registrations submitted by or on behalf of the same registrant for this beneficiary for the fiscal year are invalid.
Invalidated-Failed Payment: If a registration was submitted but the payment method was declined, rejected, disputed, or cancelled after submission, the registration is deemed invalid.
The period for filing the H-1B cap-subject petition will be at least 90 days. Selection in the registration process does not relieve the petitioner of submitting evidence or otherwise establishing eligibility, as registration only pertains to eligibility to file the H-1B cap-subject petition.
Please contact your Graham Adair attorney with any case specific questions, or contact us at info@grahamadair.com; +1 408 715 7067.