US H-1B Registration Period Now Open

At 12:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, March 1, 2020, US Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS") opened the newly implemented H-1B electronic registration period for all cap-subject H-1B petitions for FY2021. For more information on the H-1B registration process, please see our previous In Brief updates on the topic.

Background

Employers seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions for FY2021 must electronically register and pay a $10 fee for each candidate they wish to sponsor for H-1B status in the annual lottery. This is a new requirement that was initially announced by USCIS on December 6, 2019.

Registration Period

The registration period is now through 12:00 p.m. EST, March 20, 2020. H-1B electronic registrations can be submitted at any time during this period.

• Employers will receive electronic notifications when H-1B registrations are prepared by lawyers and then electronically sign the H-1B registration form for the H-1B candidate. 
• In order to sign H-1B registration forms, employers will need to enter a unique access code that their lawyer will share with them once the lawyer has drafted the forms.
• Lawyers will then pay the $10 fee for each H-1B registration, and once paid, lawyers will submit the electronic registration, concluding the process.

USCIS Selection Process

USCIS expects to notify employers and lawyers by March 31, 2020, of whether candidates have been selected in the lottery. Employers will be given a 90-day filing period, as indicated on the USCIS selection notice, to submit the completed H-1B cap-subject petition to USCIS. 

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