USCIS recently announced that it received a total of 758,994 registrations during the FY2024 H-1B registration window. This is a significant increase over the 474,421 registrations it received in FY2023. Of the over 750,000 registrations only 110,791 were selected (a 14.6% selection rate, the lowest since the implementation of the registration process in FY2021). USCIS’s data also shows a significant increase in the number of beneficiaries for whom multiple registrations were submitted (almost 250,000 more than in FY2023). Indeed there were more beneficiaries with multiple registrations submitted on their behalf (408,891) than those with only a single registration submitted on their behalf (350,103).
USCIS has indicated that the large number of beneficiaries with multiple eligible registrations “has raised serious concerns that some may have tried to gain an unfair advantage by working together to submit multiple registrations on behalf of the same beneficiary.” In the announcement, the Agency reminded registrants that they attest when submitting a registration that they have not “worked with, or agreed to work with, another registrant, petitioner, agent, or other individual or entity to submit a registration to unfairly increase chances of selection for the beneficiary or beneficiaries in this submission.” It has further indicated that it has already undertaken extensive fraud investigations based on evidence from the FY2023 and FY2023 H-1B cap seasons and where it finds registrations were not properly submitted in accordance with the required attestation, it with deny and revoke petitions accordingly. The agency has indicated that it is also currently in the process of initiating law enforcement referrals for criminal prosecution.
It is unclear whether sufficient investigations will be done into the FY2024 registrations such that those submitted in bad faith will be invalidated prior to the end of the fiscal year on September 30th, thus allowing non-selected registrations to re-coup those registrations through additional lotteries.
D&S will continue to monitor this developing situation and provide updates as they become available.