USCIS Announces H-1B Cap Registration Information

On Thursday, USCIS has formally announced details of the H-1B cap registration process for FY 2021. Starting next year, employers will have to register each individual foreign national they would like to sponsor for the lottery first. Once registered, USCIS will run the lottery and only selected applicants will submit their paper application to USCIS. For more information about the proposed changes to the H-1B application process, please click here.

The details announced by USCIS are below:

• The registration period is expected to fun from March 1 through to March 20, 2020.
• A $10 non-refundable registration fee will be required for each H-1B cap registration at the time of submission
• USCIS will notify the lottery winners no later than March 31, 2020

There are still some information that have yet to be confirmed, including the following:

• The exact time where applicants can set up their accounts on the USCIS filing system is unknown at this time. USCIS will announce on its website the date that employers may start setting up online registration accounts.
• As required by law, the petition filing period will be open for at least 90 days. USCIS has not announced the exact dates of the filing period yet. It is anticipated that the petition filing period will begin on April 1, 2020.

USCIS will post step-by-step instructions informing registrants how to complete the registration process on its website along with key dates and timelines as the initial registration period nears. USCIS will also conduct public engagements and other outreach activities to ensure registrants and interested parties are familiar with the new registration system. The agency may determine it is necessary to continue accepting registrations, or open an additional registration period, if it does not receive enough registrations and subsequent petitions projected to reach the numerical allocations.