By: Armando Escobedo and Gladys Gervacio
On November 30, 2018 the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a proposed rule requiring H-1B petitioners to first electronically register with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) during a designated registration period if seeking to file an H-1B Cap-Subject Petition.
The H-1B visa classification is a non-immigrant visa that enables US companies to temporarily employ foreign skilled professionals to work in the US. To qualify for the H-1B program, the Beneficiary must:
In the past years, USCIS used a computer-generated lottery system to select the petitions to be counted towards the cap.
a. USCIS would also post a notice of registration on its website at least 30 days prior to the designated period
Employer’s Name:
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Beneficiary’s Name:
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a. USCIS would first count all registrations (regular cap and advanced degree) towards the annual cap. Then it will select petitions towards the advanced degree exemption.
b. USCIS would also hold H-1B registrations on reserve in case of not satisfying annual quota due to denials or withdrawals
The proposed rule was officially published in the Federal Register on December 3, 2018. It is now under a 30-day public comment period. DHS will issue a finalized rule after carefully reviewing the public comments.
If the rule is finalized as proposed, but USCIS is unable to efficiently carry out this new electronic registration system before the FY 2020 cap season, USCIS would likely suspend the registration requirement for FY 2020 cap season.
As always, we will continue to monitor this new rule
To contact us for more information about the proposed H1B electronic registration process and/or to subscribe to our newsletter, please email us at info@chugh.com. We also encourage you to share this and other alerts with others who might benefit from its contents.
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