By: Angelita Chavez-Halaka; Armando Escobedo; Gladys Gervacio

SUMMARY

On January 9, 2020, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a notice in the Federal Register to formally announce the implementation of the electronic registration process for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 H-1B cap season.

What to Expect?

1. USCIS will open the H-1B registration period for the FY 2021 cap season from March 1 through March 20, 2020.
2. Petitioners intending to file H-1B cap-subject petitions, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, must first electronically register with USCIS and pay the $10 registration fee for each submission.
   
   • Prospective petitioners or their authorized representative must submit a separate registration for each H-1B cap petition they to seek to file.
   • Petitioners are not allowed to submit duplicate registrations for the same beneficiary in the same fiscal year.
3. USCIS will electronically notify registrants no later than March 31, 2020 if they were selected.
4. USCIS will provide selected registrants with at least 90 days to file the H-1B cap petition. This filing period will be indicated on the USCIS eligibility notice.

Please Note: USCIS will soon post on its website step-by-step instructions on how to complete the registration process and announce outreach activities to ensure H-1B petitioners are familiar with the new registration system.

Contact us

Contact us for more information about preparing for the FY2021 H-1B cap season 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.