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H-1B FY 2021 Electronic Registration Background

The H-1B program allows companies in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations requiring a bachelors or higher degree, or its equivalent. Annually, USCIS selects at least 65,000 H-1B visas under the H-1B regular cap and reserves another 20,000 visas for those holding advanced degrees from U.S. higher education institutions. When USCIS determines that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the congressionally-mandated H-1B cap, a computer-generated random selection process, or lottery, is used to select the petitions that are counted towards the H-1B cap.

USCIS had postponed the electronic registration requirement for the FY 2020 cap season to complete user testing and ensure the system was fully functional.3 After a successful pilot testing phase, the USCIS is now prepared to implement the electronic registration system in the next H-1B lottery.

H-1B FY 2021 Electronic Registration Window to Open March 1 through March 20, 2020

From the Public Engagement Division of USCIS: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on 12/6/19 the requirement for employers seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, to first electronically register and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee before filing a petition for the fiscal year 2021 H-1B cap.

USCIS will open an initial registration period from March 1 through March 20, 2020.

· During this initial registration period, 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.

· If a sufficient number of registrations are received, we will randomly select the number of registrations projected as needed to reach the H-1B numerical allocations after the initial registration period closes and no later than March 31, 2020.

· Prospective petitioners with selected registrations will be eligible to file a cap-subject petition only for the alien named in the registration.

Once the H-1B registration system has been implemented, and when registration is required, the agency will not consider a cap-subject petition properly filed unless it is based on a valid registration selection for the same beneficiary, and the appropriate fiscal year. Additionally, although petitioners can register multiple aliens during a single online submission, duplicate registrations for the same beneficiary in the same fiscal year will be discarded.

During the past few months, USCIS conducted usability testing for the H-1B registration system. We incorporated feedback from those sessions into redesigns of the system. After completing the current development phase, USCIS will conduct further outreach and training prior to the initial implementation of the registration system to allow the public the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the electronic registration process. USCIS will provide guidance on how to use the registration system and prepare registrations before opening the registration system for the initial registration period.

DHS intends to publish a notice in the Federal Register in the coming weeks to formally announce implementation of the H-1B registration process.

Citizenship and Adjustment of Status Interviews May Be Conducted at Different Locations to Improve Processing Times

USCIS announced today that it is implementing a new strategy to decrease differences in processing times based on location for Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, and Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.

Since the end of 2015, there has been an increase in processing times due to higher than expected volumes received during fiscal years (FY) 2016 and 2017 that did not decrease as originally projected. FY 2017 receipts were up 15.6% from FY 2016, and FY 2016 receipts were up 25.5% from FY 2015. The increased filing volumes did not affect all field offices equally, which resulted in some disparity in the processing times among field offices.

USCIS will begin shifting caseloads between field offices to decrease processing times. This may result in applicants being scheduled to appear for an interview at a field office outside of their normal jurisdiction. Applicants may receive an interview appointment notice or other types of notices (such as a Request for Evidence) from a field office outside of their normal jurisdiction. However, these caseload changes will not affect where applicants attend their biometrics appointments. Biometrics will still be done at the nearest application support center.

A plan to reduce processing times for N-400s and I-485s is welcome news as many applicants remain waiting for close to two years in some locations.