H-1B Visa Lottery for Fiscal Year 2022 Opens March 9, 2021
02/16/2021
On February 5, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the initial registration for the H-1B visa lottery for Fiscal Year 2022 will begin at noon Eastern time on March 9, 2021 and will close at noon Eastern time on March 25, 2021. USCIS intends to notify selected registrants on or before March 31, 2021. Those selected can then file the Fiscal Year 2022 H-1B cap-subject petitions during the period starting on April 1, 2021 and ending on June 30, 2021. Approved registrants will have an employment start date of October 1, 2021.
This year’s H1-B visa lottery process will mirror last year’s process. This process is now conducted online and employers or their attorneys of record may submit the lottery registration using a myUSCIS online account. Selection notifications will also be made via myUSCIS online accounts. The filing fee for registrations is $10 per beneficiary.
On January 7, 2021, USCIS published a final rule changing the way winning registrants are selected. Instead of randomly selecting winners, USCIS would prioritize selection of H-1B visa lottery registrations for higher paid workers. However, on February 4, 2021, USCIS announced that it will now delay the effective date of this final rule until December 31, 2021. The delay of this final rule means that USCIS will apply the regulations currently in place − random selection − to this year’s lottery in the same manner as last year.
Similar to last year, Congress has also set an annual cap of 65,000 H-1B cap-subject petitions that can be approved, plus an additional 20,000 that are set aside for those with master’s degrees or higher from an accredited U.S. college or university.
Warshaw Burstein attorneys are available to assist you with the H-1B visa electronic registration process and have already started preparing for March 9th. If you have any questions regarding these important considerations, please contact Pankaj Malik or David Jacobson.
Pankaj Malik | pmalik@wbny.com | 212-984-7742
David Jacobson | djacobson@wbny.com | 212-984-7815
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