Last Friday, USCIS announced that the long-anticipated H-1B electronic registration system will be implemented for fiscal year 2021, with the first registration period from March 1 through March 20, 2020.
Highlights
Employers must electronically register and pay $10 H-1B registration free before filing any petition.
Each beneficiary must have a separate registration and be named in the registration.
USCIS will randomly select from total registrations based on number of registrations needed to fill H-1B allocations.
The selections will be made after the end of the registration period (March 20, 2020) and no later than March 31, 2020.
After selection, employers will have at least 90 days to submit their petitions. Employers can only file a petition for the beneficiary named in the selected registration.
Due to the low cost of electronic registration, the chances of being selected for H-1B cap next year may be historically low.
USCIS has stated that it will be providing step-by-step instructions for the registration process and it will be hosting outreach activities leading up to the first registration period. USCIS has not made it clear when selection results will be announced, but we will be monitoring any news regarding the process.
Please check back in the future for an update on this detail. If you have any questions about the new registration system or about immigration in general, you can contact us any time.