H-1B Visas

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H-1B "cap" reached for FY 2021

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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on March 27, 2020 that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory H-1B visa “cap” for fiscal year (FY) 2021.

The USCIS announcement states “[w]e randomly selected from among the registrations properly submitted. We intend to notify petitioners with selected registrations no later than March 31, 2020, that they are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for the beneficiary named in the applicable selected registration.

Registrants’ online accounts will now show one of the following statuses for each registration (that is, for each beneficiary registered):

  • Submitted: A registration status may continue to show “Submitted” after the initial selection process has been completed. “Submitted” registrations will remain in consideration for selection until the end of the fiscal year, at which point all registration statuses will be Selected, Not Selected, or Denied.

  • Selected: Selected to file an FY 2021 H-1B cap-subject petition.

  • ​​​​​​​Denied: A duplicate registration was submitted by the same registrant for the same beneficiary, or a payment method was declined and not reconciled. If denied as a duplicate registration, all registrations you submitted for this beneficiary for the fiscal year are invalid.

Only petitioners with selected registrations may file H-1B cap-subject petitions for FY 2021, and only for the beneficiary in the applicable selected registration notice.”

USCIS has not announced when the paper filings will be due. Those details will be printed on the paper selection notices that USCIS will mail out, and will not display in the online account.

© Jewell Stewart & Pratt PC 2020

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USCIS Webinar Provides Details on H-1B Electronic Registration System

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As discussed in prior posts, USCIS is taking steps to implement an electronic registration system for use in the upcoming H-1B cap lottery for government fiscal year 2021. More details were released this week in a USCIS webinar for “Registrants”—that is, the companies and organizations seeking to submit an H-1B petition.

In the webinar USCIS stated that Registrants will be able to set up accounts on February 24, one week before the registration window of March 1-20 opens. The agency confirmed that should the electronic system fail, it would require petitioners to submit full petitions as in past cap seasons; related filing deadlines will be announced later, should they become necessary.

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USCIS Announces Further Details About H-1B Electronic Registration

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As discussed in our previous blog posts, USCIS is taking steps to implement an electronic registration to be used in the upcoming H-1B cap lottery for Fiscal Year 2021. A few further implementation details have now been released in a Federal Register posting dated January 9, 2020, and in a press release dated January 10, 2020. USCIS noted the following details:

  • The initial registration period will open from March 1 through March 20, 2020.

  • H-1B cap-subject petitioners, including those seeking Master’s cap H-1Bs, will be required to first register electronically with USCIS and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee for each submission.

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USCIS Announces H-1B Electronic Registration Period

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As discussed in prior posts, on January 30, 2019, USCIS announced a final rule regarding changes to the annual H-1B cap lottery system, requiring an electronic registration for each cap-subject petition. While the electronic registration requirement was suspended for the lottery in April 2019, USCIS is taking steps to implement it for the lottery in April 2020, including the collection of a $10 fee for each electronic registration submitted. 

Now further implementation details have been released: USCIS announced on Friday, December 6, that electronic registration will be required for the upcoming filing season in April 2020, that the agency has “completed a successful pilot testing phase,” and that the initial registration period will run from March 1, 2020 to March 20, 2020.

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USCIS Proposes Fee for H-1B Cap Registrations

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As discussed in prior posts, on January 30, 2019, USCIS announced a final rule regarding changes to the annual H-1B cap lottery system, requiring an electronic registration process for each cap-subject petition.  While the electronic registration requirement was suspended for the most recent lottery in April 2019, USCIS is taking steps to implement it going forward.  On September 3, 2019, USCIS announced that it was seeking to collect a $10 fee for each electronic registration submitted to USCIS.

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Forms DS-160 and DS-260 now require disclosure of social media accounts

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On May 30, 2019, the U.S. Department of State added required questions about social media accounts or identifiers to the online nonimmigrant and immigrant visa application forms, the DS-160 and DS-260.  This means that anyone applying for a U.S. nonimmigrant visa (a temporary visa) or a U.S. immigrant visa (permanent residence, a green card) must disclose all social media accounts used in the last five years. Social media presumably will be reviewed by U.S. Consular personnel in the course of visa adjudications.

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USCIS resumes Premium Processing Service for cap-subject H-1B petitions, takes next step in H-1B registration rules

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USCIS resumed Premium Processing Service for all cap-subject H-1B petitions on June 10, 2019. The USCIS news alert is posted here and also mentions a temporary suspension of the use of pre-paid mailers for sending approval notices. Instead, final notices will be sent via regular U.S. mail.

Separately, the Department of Homeland Security published its proposed regulatory agenda which included a proposal to charge a fee for H-1B registrations filed under the electronic registration rule expected to to take effect for the upcoming “cap” season in Spring 2020. Further implementation details have not yet been released.

© Jewell Stewart & Pratt PC 2019

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H-1B cap update – USCIS reports 201,011 petitions received

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Today USCIS announced that it received 201,011 H-1B petitions in the filing period that began on April 1. On April 10 USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process (commonly known as a “lottery”) to select a sufficient number of petitions needed to meet the cap. USCIS says that it conducted the selection process for all beneficiaries first, as described in its January 30, 2019 regulation, and then selected a number projected to reach the advanced degree exemption from the remaining eligible petitions. Any petitions not randomly selected will be rejected and returned with the filing fees.

© Jewell Stewart & Pratt PC 2019

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H-1B "regular" cap reached for FY 2020

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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on April 5 that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory H-1B visa “regular cap” for fiscal year (FY) 2020. USCIS will next determine whether it has received a sufficient number of petitions to meet the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as “the master’s cap.”

USCIS is expected to use a computer-generated random selection process (commonly known as the “lottery”) for all FY 2020 cap-subject petitions received through April 5, 2019. This year, the agency will conduct the selection process for “regular cap” first, and the “master’s cap” second, as discussed in our prior blog posts. The exact day of the random selection process has not yet been announced.

© Jewell Stewart & Pratt PC 2019

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USCIS resumes Premium Processing Service for all H-1B petitions, clarifies PPS for cap-subject petitions

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Updated March 19, 2019:

On March 11, 2019, USCIS announced that it would resume Premium Processing Service for all H-1B petitions, effective on March 12, 2019. The USCIS news alert is posted here. Two days later, USCIS clarified via AILA liaison that H cap petitions were not covered by the March 11 announcement.