Update: USCIS Implements New H-1B Electronic Registration Process

USCIS, on December 06, 2019, announced the successful completion of the pilot testing phase and implementation of the H-1B Electronic Registration Process for the Fiscal Year 2021 Cap Season. The new electronic registration process will apply to the annual quota or cap of 65,000 (Regular Cap) and 20,000 (Master’s Cap) new H-1B visas. This announcement follows the Final Rules that were published by the USCIS concerning the new electronic registration system in the Federal Register on January 31, 2019, and November 08, 2019.[1] The Registration period is set to begin on March 01, 2020 and will last till March 20, 2020. The employers can start submitting the complete H-1B Petition for the Petition’s picked up in the lottery as early as April 01, 2020 and up to 90 days after a H-1B Petition has been picked up in the lottery. Under the new Electronic Registration Process, an employer will file one separate registration for each employee the employer is planning to sponsor. In addition to this now an employer will be required to pay $10 H-1B registration fee at the time of registering the employee for the lottery, and once picked up the employer will be required to pay the regular H-1B fees for the picked-up Petition.[2] As per USCIS, “employers seeking H-1B workers subject to the cap, or their authorized representatives, will complete a registration process that requires only basic information about their company and each requested workers”.[3] According to January 31, 2019, Final Rule published by USCIS, following information will most likely be required to complete the online registration process, such as, “Employer’s name; Name and title of contact person of the sponsoring employer; Mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address of contact person of the sponsoring employer; FEIN number of the employer; Signature of the contact person; Name of employee/foreign national; DOB, Country of Birth, Country of Citizenship, Gender, Passport Number of the employee/foreign national; Filing Category (Regular or Masters Cap).[4] In the coming weeks, USCIS will be publishing a notice in the Federal Register to formally announce the implementation of the H-1B registration system and provide additional details on the process. Also, USCIS will publish essential information concerning the new H-1B Electronic Registration System near the start of the registration system. We will regularly update the Law Firms website as to any new updates concerning the new H-1B registration system.