On August 14, 2020, USCIS conducted a second round of lottery for FY 2021 H-1B CAP-Subject petitions. Employers should login to My USCIS account to check the status of their H-1B registration selections. USCIS conducted second round of lottery because a several employers decided not to file H-1B petitions for the registrations selected in the first round of the lottery because of which the annual quota of 85,000 was not reached. USCIS selected non-selected cases from the first round of the lottery.
As noted in our previous blogs, an H-1B cap-subject petition must be filed within the period indicated on the relevant registration selection notice, which in this case is from August 17, 2020 to November 16, 2020. The petitioners must include a printed copy of the applicable registration selection notice with the FY 2021 H-1B cap-subject petition, which says “August 2020 Selection of Reserve Registration”, and mentions USCIS filing location. The Petitioners filing H-1B cap-subject petitions, including those petitions eligible for the advanced degree exemption, must still establish eligibility for petition approval at the time the petition is filed and through adjudication, based on existing statutory and regulatory requirements. Selection in the registration process does not relieve the petitioner from submitting evidence or otherwise establishing eligibility, as registration only pertains to eligibility to file the H-1B cap-subject petition.
In addition as of now, the USCIS has still not rejected any H-1B registrations and they still show as “Submitted”, which means 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.
Also, please note the USCIS fee increases and a new Form I-129 H-1 will take effect on October 2, 2020. We will regularly update the blog as soon as any new information is available.
Disclaimer
This article aims to provide new information concerning H-1B Lottery for FY 2021, and USCIS guidance on the same. This article, under no circumstances, acts as legal advice; therefore, for any immigration questions, please contact your Attorney or the Ahluwalia Law Offices, P.C. (Team ALO).
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