U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it will be implementing the registration process in the next H-1B lottery. Employers seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 cap, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, must first electronically register with USCIS. USCIS will open an initial registration period from March 1 through March 20, 2020.
Under this new process, employers or their authorized representatives will be required to complete a registration for each requested worker during the registration window, providing initial information about their company and each requested worker. Employers must also pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee for each registration. The H-1B random selection process will then be run on those electronic registrations. Only those with selected registrations will be eligible to file H-1B cap-subject petitions.
USCIS indicates it will post step-by-step instructions on the registration process along with key dates and timelines as the initial registration period nears.
D&S will post additional guidance as it becomes available.