Articles Posted in H-1B Cap

On Tuesday, February 16, 2021, USCIS announced that it had reached enough H-1B petitions to fill the 65,000 H-1B regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for fiscal year (FY) 2021.

*We have completed sending non-selection notifications to registrants’ online accounts. The status for registrations properly submitted for the FY 2021 H-1B numerical allocations, but that were not selected, will now show: “Not Selected: Not selected for this fiscal year”. *USCIS

Please review USCIS News Alert, “USCIS Reaches Fiscal Year 2021 H-1B Regular Cap” for more details.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Delays Effective Date of H-1B Selection Final Rule! The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on January 7^th the H-1B Selection final rule, “USCIS Modifies H-1B Selection Process to Prioritize Wages“. This rule change amends the regulations governing the process by which USCIS selects H-1B registrations for filing the H-1B cap-subject petitions. To give the USCIS more time to review and prepare for the changes, DHS has delayed the effective date of this final rule from March 9, 2021 to December 31, 2021. For the upcoming H-1B cap season, USCIS will apply the current regulations of random selection for this registration period which will take place before effective date of Dec. 31, 2021.

Source of Information:

USCIS (USCIS.gov), 2/4/21, News Alert:

H-1B Registration opens March 1st at noon (Eastern)!

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has started accepting H-1B cap registration for fiscal year (FY) 2021 on March 1st at noon (Eastern). They will continue accepting registration for this cap season until March 20th at noon (Eastern). USCIS will assign a unique confirmation number for each FY 2021 H-1B registration submitted during this period to be used for tracking this registration only.

For more detailed information about this subject please review the USCIS News Alert, “Initial H-1B Registration Period Opens at Noon Eastern on March 1“.

H-1B Registration opens March 1^st at noon (Eastern)!

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has started accepting H-1B cap registration for fiscal year (FY) 2021 on March 1^st at noon (Eastern). They will continue accepting registration for this cap season until March 20^th at noon (Eastern). USCIS will assign a unique confirmation number for each FY 2021 H-1B registration submitted during this period to be used for tracking this registration only.

For more detailed information about this subject please review the USCIS News Alert, “Initial H-1B Registration Period Opens at Noon Eastern on March 1“.

Reminder:

USCIS has announced that they will open their initial registration time period for H-1B cap-subject petitioners for Fiscal Year 2021 (FY 2021) from Sunday, March 1, 2020 to Friday, March 20, 2020.

• During this timeframe, H-1B cap-subject petitioners, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, seeking to file a FY 2021 H-1B cap petition will be required to first register electronically with USCIS and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee for each submission.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that they will not use pre-paid mailers to send out any communication or final notices for fiscal year 2021 (FY 2021) cap-subject H-1B petitions. This will also include petitioners being considered for the advanced degree exemption. USCIS has fully automated approval notices using USPS first-class mail for this selection process.

For additional important information please review the USCIS News Alert, “Fiscal Year 2021 H-1B Cap Pre-Paid Mailer Suspension”.

Source of Information:

Reminder:

USCIS has announced that they will open their initial registration time period for H-1B cap-subject petitioners for Fiscal Year 2021 (FY 2021) from Sunday, March 1, 2020 to Friday, March 20, 2020.

• During this timeframe, H-1B cap-subject petitioners, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, seeking to file a FY 2021 H-1B cap petition will be required to first register electronically with USCIS and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee for each submission.

USCIS has announced that they will open their initial registration time period for H-1B cap-subject petitioners for Fiscal Year 2021 (FY 2021) from Sunday, March 1, 2020 to Friday, March 20, 2020.

• During this timeframe, H-1B cap-subject petitioners, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, seeking to file a FY 2021 H-1B cap petition will be required to first register electronically with USCIS and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee for each submission.
• Prospective petitioners or their authorized representatives must electronically submit a separate registration naming each alien for whom they seek to file an H-1B cap-subject petition. Duplicate registrations are prohibited.

USCIS announce of Friday, December 6, 2019 that they have completed the initial pilot program testing the H-1B electronic registration process which will include a $10 registration fee. This fee is just to register online to be included in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 H-1B cap selection. This new H-1B electronic registration process includes those eligible for the advanced degree exemption. The government feels that the new electronic registration process will streamline the application process, reduce paperwork and allow for better data exchange leading to an overall cost savings.

For further details please review the USCIS News Article, “USCIS Announces Implementation of H-1B Electronic Registration Process for Fiscal Year 2021 Cap Season”.

Source of Information:

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed a minimal registration fee for petitioners seeking to file H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions. DHS announced on Tuesday, September 3^rd, a proposed rule change that would require petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions to pay a $10 registration fee for each electronic registration they submit to USCIS.

Under the new electronic registration requirement, sponsoring employers seeking to file H-1B cap applications have first electronically register with the USCIS during a designated registration period. Only those pre-registries will be eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject application.

For complete details, please review the USCIS News Alert, “DHS Proposes Minimal Registration Fee for Petitioners Seeking to File H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions” for more details.