H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that permits a company to hire workers in specialty occupations. This visa category requires that the beneficiary (the foreign worker) have a bachelor’s degree, and the petitioner (the U.S. company) can employ the worker for up to six years.
Because there is a limited number of H-1B petitions that USCIS can adjudicate every year (65,000 Regular Cap petitions and additional 20,000 U.S. Advanced Degree Petitions), USCIS runs what is called an H-1B lottery every year. Please see our blog post on H-1B lottery system when you click here.
This year, U.S. employers who want to sponsor foreign nationals for an H-1B visa (or their attorneys) will have to submit an H-1B registration in period from March 9 – March 25, 2021.
Starting March 2, 2021, authorized signatories of U.S. employers who want to sponsor a foreign national for the H-1B visa can create an account on MyUSCIS website.
An authorized signatory of a U.S. employer will have to create MyUSCIS account in both of the following scenarios:
- In case the H-1B company is filing the H-1b registration itself (did not hire an attorney/accredited representative to file the registration). In this scenario, the authorized representative will have to prepare the H-1B registration, pay the registration fee, and submit the registration to USCIS during the H-1B registration period.
- In case the H-1B company hired an attorney/accredited representative. In this case, an authorized signatory would still need to create a MyUSCIS account to review the H-1B registration and accept the G-28 form (Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney).
Do I need an attorney for the H-1B registration/process?
We highly recommend hiring an immigration counsel for the H-1B registration process/assistance with the H-1b visa. Like most Immigration law, H-1B visa regulations are extremely complicated. Additionally, when you are submitting the H-1b registration, you will have to attest that you intend to sponsor the H- B worker for an H-1B visa, so you should make sure that the person qualifies for the H-1B visa in the first place before you submit the registration. Please see the H-1B visa requirements when you click here.
Please see our Q&A blog post on the 2021 H1B Registration when you click here.
Please click here to find out whether the H-1B worker has to be a W-2 employee.
