USCIS to Open Registration for H-1B Cap Lottery Soon

The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will be publishing information about the upcoming registration period for the H-1B Cap Lottery soon. The H-1B visa is a nonimmigrant classification that allows companies to employ foreign nationals in the United States who will be working in a ‘specialty occupation,’ i.e. a role that requires a Bachelor’s degree (or its equivalent) in a specific field of study. Due to its versatility, the H-1B visa classification is popular for employers. However, since 2004 the U.S. Congress has set a limit that only approximately 80,000 new H-1B visas may be issued each year.

Due to: (1) the U.S. government operating on a fiscal year that runs from October to September, (2) employers being allowed to apply for an H-1B visa up to six months in advance of the requested start date, and, (3) many more people applying for H-1B visas than there are available, e.g. last year they received 483,927 H-1B registrations for those 80,000 spots, USCIS runs a program where employers who would like to employ a foreign national pursuant to H-1B status must register that foreign national for a lottery that is held a little more than 6 months before the start of the next fiscal year, i.e. in late-March. If the worker is selected in the lottery, then the employer can file an H-1B petition on behalf of that foreign national between April and June.

While USCIS has not yet published the exact dates of the registration period for this coming fiscal year, we expect that they will soon. Over the past few years they have opened the registration period at the start of March and have kept it open for approximately two and a half weeks. Employers should therefore start identifying any foreign nationals who they may want to register for the H-1B Cap Lottery.

People to consider include:

• F-1 foreign students who have graduated and are employed pursuant to OPT employment authorization or who are graduating this Spring.

• J-1 foreign scholars or researchers.

• Foreign nationals in other nonimmigrant statuses that present intent or timing challenges for green card sponsorship (TN, H1B1, L-1 from countries subject to Immigrant Visa backlogs, and others).

• Foreign nationals in derivative H-4, E-1/E-2 or L-2 status with employment authorization which is tied to the continuing status of their H-1B/E-1/E-2/L-1 spouses.

• Foreign nationals who are currently living outside of the U.S.

Do not hesitate to Grant Godfrey should you have any questions.