H-1B Registration Announced

Feb 6, 2021 | Nonimmigrant Visas

USCIS announced today that the initial registration period for H-1B cap will open at noon Eastern time on March 9 and run through noon Eastern time on March 25.

During this period, employers will be able to complete petitioner and beneficiary information and submit the registrations. A confirmation number will be assigned to each registration submitted.

If USCIS receives more than 85,000 registrations by March 25, the agency will then randomly select 85,000 registrations and send selection notifications. USCIS intends to notify account holders by March 31. Of course, an H-1B cap-subject petition may be filed only by a petitioner whose registration for that beneficiary was selected in the H-1B registration process.

For additional information, please see HERE.

USCIS previously announced that DHS is delaying the effective date of the H-1B Selection Process final rule, which would have fundamentally changed the lottery process. USCIS will apply the regulations currently in place (random selection) to the initial registration period and any subsequent registration period for the FY 2022 registration process.

Please do not hesitate to contact your WR attorney if you or your company would like to complete an H-1B registration.

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Office of Foreign Labor Certification To Reissue Certain Prevailing Wage Determinations

On January 20, 2021, a U.S. district court issued a modified order governing the manner and schedule in which the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) will reissue certain prevailing wage determinations (PWDs) that were issued from October 8, 2020, through December 4, 2020, under the wage methodology for a related DOL interim rule issued in October, and at the request of employers under the H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 temporary programs and PERM labor certification program. OFLC said DOL is taking necessary steps to comply with the modified order issued by the district court. Accordingly, OFLC will reissue certain PWDs issued under the interim final rule in two phases: high priority (within 15 days of receiving the requested list of named plaintiffs from plaintiffs’ counsel) and emergency situations (by March 2, 2021). Employers that have already submitted a request in response to a December 3, 2020, announcement posted by OFLC have been issued a PWD and do not need to resubmit a second request for reissuance or take other additional action, OFLC said. Details: OFLC announcement, Jan. 22, 2021, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor

FY 2021 H-1B Cap-Subject Nonselection Notices Issued

According to reports, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) appears to have finished selecting H-1B cap-subject lottery registrations for fiscal year (FY) 2021 (Oct. 1, 2020-Sept. 30, 2021). Employers and counsel who have not yet been notified can check their accounts in https://my.uscis.gov/ for a Form I-797C, Registration Nonselection. (The nonselection notices include a typo referring to FY 2022 rather than FY 2021. USCIS said it will send corrected notices.) Sources: “H-1B Electronic Registration Process,” USCIS, https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/h-1b-specialty-occupations-and-fashion-models/h-1b-electronic-registration-process (scroll down to “Step-by-Step Instructions” for video) “H-1B Visa Registration for 2022 to Begin on Mar. 9, Lottery Results to be Notified by Mar. 31,” Economic Times, https://bit.ly/3rqxuJ2