USCIS Announces H-1B Electronic Registration Process for Upcoming Cap Season

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will hold the H-1B electronic registration process for the fiscal year 2023 H-1B cap (from which the annual H-1B lottery will be run). Registration begins at noon Eastern Standard Time on March 1, 2022, and runs through noon Eastern Daylight Time on March 18, 2022. USCIS will use the same random selection process that was used last year, as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it is not implementing the rule that would have given priority in the H-1B selection process to higher-salaried positions.

If you haven’t already done so, please let us know by Feb. 15 the names of anyone whom you want to enter into the H-1B lottery. We would be happy to help you prepare and submit your H-1B registrations. To do so, we will electronically register those individuals whom you wish to sponsor during this period. The registration process is two steps. First, we will draft the H-1B registration(s) for your review. Next, you will need to verify and approve the H-1B registration(s) that we have prepared on your behalf and electronically submit a G-28. A $10 government filing fee is required for each registration, which we will submit on your behalf. Following the registration period, USCIS will select approximately 85,000 entries (including 20,000 for U.S. master’s degree holders) from the electronic registration list and invite those petitioners to submit a full H-1B filing (including all filing fees) within 90 days of case selection.

Companies (Registrants) that do not already have an H-1B Registrant account will be able to create new accounts beginning at noon Eastern on Feb. 21. If you must create a new account, you may do so by visiting https://myaccount.uscis.gov/users/sign_up and selecting the "I am an H-1B registrant" option. Please make sure you create a Registrant account and not an Applicant/petitioner/requestor account, since creating an account of the wrong type will require you to create a new account using a different email address. USCIS published a video tutorial at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2itmTPvk00 that you may want to view before you create your account. We strongly encourage you to set up your Registrant accounts between Feb. 21, 2022, and March 1, 2022, when the registration process opens. Please ensure that you are using the exact legal name of the company that will sponsor your employee or candidate. Please also double-check that all additional requested details are accurate. A mistake or typo could have severe implications for your H-1B lottery submission(s).

USCIS has stated that the initial selection process will be completed by March 31, 2022. USCIS will then notify registrants as to which foreign nationals have been selected. This notification will also provide a 90-day period in which H-1B petitions for the selected individual must be prepared and filed. However, candidates who need a cap gap extension of their F-1 OPT/STEM OPT EAD cards must have H-1B petitions filed for them before their EAD cards expire. 

Following the lottery, the USCIS account will display one of the following statuses for each submitted registration:  

• Submitted: This refers to the fact that the lottery entry (not the petition) was submitted and received. (The system may continue to show Submitted even after the initial selection process.) In the event the 85,000 H-1B slots aren’t exhausted (due to petitioners not pursuing H-1B filings after selection or H-1B petition denials), USCIS may make additional selections.
• Selected: Selected to file an H-1B cap petition. The registrant is invited to prepare and file its petition with USCIS within 90 days.
• Not Selected: Not selected — not eligible to file an H-1B cap petition based on this registration. The system won’t show this until the end of the fiscal year and after the lottery process has concluded.
• Denied: This occurs only when the same registrant has submitted more than one registration for the same foreign national, which is prohibited.
• Invalidated-Failed Payment: A registration was submitted, but the payment method was declined, not reconciled or is otherwise invalid.

H-1B cap-subject beneficiaries, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, must have a valid Selected registration notification for that specific fiscal year in order for a registrant or representative to properly file an H-1B cap-subject petition. The status of registrations that are not selected as part of any initial random selection process, and not denied or invalidated, will remain Submitted. During the past two years of the electronic lottery, in an effort to use all 85,000 numbers, USCIS has made subsequent round(s) of H-1B lottery selections after the initial March 31 results.

To be eligible for the master’s cap, an individual must earn a U.S. master’s (or more advanced) degree no later than the last (89th) day of the period allotted for the filing (due on day 90) of the H-1B petition following lottery sections. This means that if an individual has not yet earned their U.S. master’s (or more advanced) degree but will earn it within 89 days of April 1, 2022, he or she may be eligible for the master’s cap. 

USCIS has not indicated whether it will suspend premium processing for H-1B cap case filing.

Please review your employment needs now to determine whether you wish to sponsor any of your current or prospective employees for H-1B status. This includes those professionals already employed by you in F-1 Optional Practical Training (OPT), F-1 STEM OPT, E-3, TN, J-1/J-2 or L-1A/L-1B status, and any individuals you may wish to bring on board as of Oct. 1, 2022. You may also consider submitting an H-1B registration for current employees who are already working for you pursuant to an EAD based on their dependent status (H-4, L-2, E-2, E-3D, etc.).

If you have any questions or need additional information about this alert, please feel free to contact us.