January 31, 2024
H-1B Cap Lottery Season is Underway
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a final rule in the H-1B electronic registration process on Tuesday, January 30, 2024. The final rule will include certain provisions to combat the potential for fraud during the Fiscal Year 2025 H-1B cap lottery process, by ensuring that each foreign national beneficiary has only one chance of selection, regardless of how many employer entities submit a registration on their behalf. USCIS is calling this new process a “beneficiary centric selection.” In order to track individual beneficiaries, each H-1B cap registration must provide details from an individual’s passport or travel document.
USCIS also confirmed that that the initial registration period for the fiscal year 2025 H-1B cap will open at noon Eastern on March 6, 2024, and will run through noon Eastern March 22, 2024. Only registrations submitted during this period will be entered into the cap-subject lottery. USCIS will conduct a random selection process and notify selected registrants by March 31, 2024. Those registrants who are selected will then have the opportunity to submit an H-1B petition to USCIS for adjudication.
Please note that USCIS has also announced changes to its filing fees, which will become effective on April 1, 2024. We will issue a more detailed alert on that subject soon.
If you have any employees or candidates that you would like to register in the H-1B Cap Lottery, please let us know as soon as possible, and no later than March 6, 2024. You can reach us by emailing breljeinfo@breljelaw.com. We look forward to assisting you and we wish your registrations the best of luck!