USCIS announced that it will implement a requirement that employers seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions for fiscal year (FY) 2021, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, must first electronically register and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee to determine if they may file an H-1B cap-subject petition.  The registration period is from March 1 to March 20, 2020.  Registrations must be submitted electronically and paper filed registrations will not be accepted through the postal service or otherwise.  This communication provides basic information about the new registration and H-1B petition process effective this year.

The new electronic registration will request basic information about the prospective petitioning company or organization and employee:

REGISTRANT (employer) INFORMATION:

• Legal name of the prospective petitioning company or organization
• The Doing Business As names of the prospective petitioning company or organization, if applicable
• Employer identification number (EIN) of the prospective petitioning company or organization
• Primary U.S. office address of the prospective petitioning company or organization
• Legal name, title, and contact information (daytime phone number and email address) of the authorized signatory

BENEFICIARY (employee) INFORMATION:

• Beneficiary’s legal name
• Beneficiary’s gender
• Does the beneficiary have a master’s or higher degree from a U.S. institution of higher education such that the beneficiary is eligible for the advanced degree exemption under INA 214(g)(5)(C) and requesting consideration under the advanced degree exemption?
• Beneficiary’s date of birth
• Beneficiary’s country of birth Beneficiary’s country of citizenship
• Beneficiary’s passport number

In addition to employer’s authorized representatives, attorneys may submit registrations provided they have a Form G-28 submitted to the USCIS.  All registrations submitted during the initial registration period will be included in the lottery if USCIS determines it has received more than enough registrations to meet the numerical limitations, regardless of whether a registration was submitted on March 1 or March 19.  Registrations can be submitted during the entire registration period ending on March 20, 2020.  USCIS will assign each individual beneficiary (employee) with his or her own registration number, which could allow for each beneficiary to be handled separately after submission of a registration.  Registration payment must be made online via Pay.gov portal.  The registration system will permit payments to be made from a bank account (checking or savings), a credit card, or debit card. Just like the registration process itself, payment can be made either by the employer or attorney of record. 

The lottery should be run no later than March 31, 2020.  USCIS will send notices electronically to all registrants with selected registrations that they are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition on behalf of the individual named in the notice within the filing period indicated on the notice. USCIS indicates that it intends to notify registrants with selected registrations no later than March 31, 2020.

Selected registrants should be able to begin filing petitions beginning April 1.  USCIS will include the filing period in the notice of selection, but petitioners (employers) will have at least 90 days from the date of a registration selection to submit a complete H-1B petition to USCIS. Petitions will be adjudicated in the order in which they are received.  USCIS has not yet announced whether premium processing will be available for these petitions. Typically, USCIS does not make a decision as to the availability of premium processing until shortly before the cap filing season.