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USCIS announced on January 27, 2023 that the H-1B lottery registration for 2023 (Fiscal Year 2024) will open on March 01, 2023. Here is the timeline for the whole process -
FEB 21, 2023: Ability to create new employer accounts
Starting February 21, employers will be allowed to register the companies on the myUSCIS platform. The point of contact for the employer should create this account if they are setting up an account for the first time or if the last account is no longer in use.
Do I have to use the account that was created last year?
No. You can set up a new account for this year's lottery.
Is it mandatory to set up a new account?
No. You can use the account from the last year.
Do I need to register my employees during this time?
No. The employee registration starts March 01, 2023
Do I need to register our immigration counsel during this time?
Yes. You can register your immigration counsel as a "representative" at this time or can wait until March 01.
Can a foreign national employee register as the point of contact for the employer?
No. The foreign national cannot register as the point of contact for the the employer.
Can I register my foreign national employees during this time?
No. You can only create an account for the employer and add your immigration counsel during this time. The registration for foreign national opens on March 01, 2023.
Can my foreign national employee access the myUSCIS account?
No. Foreign nationals, considered beneficiaries in the immigration process, do not get access to the employer's account. Here are more details.
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MARCH 01, 2023: Registration Opens
Starting March 01, USCIS will allow the employers and their immigration counsel to register the foreign national employees of the company. Each employee should only be registered only once and duplicate registration could be rejected.
Can I register the employees myself?
Yes. You can register your employees for the lottery yourself.
Can the employees register themselves for the lottery?
No. Employee do not have access to the myUSCIS employer account and therefore, cannot register themselves for the lottery. This has to be done by either the point of contact of the employer or the company's immigration counsel.
Can the employees see when the registration is complete?
No. The employees do not have access to the myUSCIS account and cannot see if they have been registered for the lottery.
Will the employees get an email confirming their lottery registration?
No. The employees do not receive any confirmation email from USCIS.
Does my employee have a better chance if I register earlier?
No. The lottery is random and when you register, where you register from and how many employees you register does not have any bearing on the selection process.
What details do I need to provide to register the employee?
Employee registration is fairly straight forward. These are the employee details that you need for registration:
First Name (as it appears on the passport)
Middle Name (as it appears on the passport)
Last Name (as it appears on the passport)
Gender
Date of birth
Country of birth
Country of citizenship
Passport Number
U.S. Master's Degree - Yes/No
NOTE - USCIS will assign a confirmation number to each registration submitted. This number is used solely to track registrations. Employees cannot use this number to track the case status through USCIS' Case Status page.
March 17, 2023: Registration Closes
USCIS will close the lottery registration on March 18 at 12 noon (Eastern Time).
Can I make changes to employee details after the registration closes?
No. Once the registration period closes, no changes can be made to the employee details.
March 18 - March 30, 2023: H-1B Lottery Selection
USCIS says that it will run the random lottery selection after March 17, if they get enough registration. The number that they are looking to fill is anything over 85,000 registrations. We estimate they will get close to 300,000 registrations.
What is the selection criteria for the lottery?
The lottery is random and does not have a selection criteria except that you register the employee correctly and that you do not have duplicate entries for the same employee. Employees with a U.S. Master's degree, however, have a slightly higher chance of selection.
When will I know if my employee is selected in the lottery?
USCIS will declare the lottery selection results on March 31, 2023. From the past experience, we believe that the results (emails to point of contacts and immigration counsels) will trickle in on March 31 April 01.
March 31, 2023: Notify Employers and Attorneys
USCIS will start sending out email notifications to employers starting March 31. Based on experience from previous years, we think the emails will be trickling in on April 01 as well.
Who gets the email from USCIS with selection confirmation?
USCIS sends the email to the employer's point of contact and the immigration counsel. The employee does not receive an email from USCIS.
Do I get an email for every employee that is selected?
Yes. You will receive a separate email for every employee that is selected.
Do I get an email for the employees that are not selected?
No. You do not get any emails for the employees that do not get selected.
Is there another way to confirm which employees were and were not selected?
Yes. We recommend that you log into your myUSCIS account to see which employees were selected. The selected employees would show the status "Selected" and the unselected employee's status would still say "Submitted".
Note - at times you may not see an email from USCIS but the status of the employee would have changed.
April 01, 2023 - June 30, 2023: File H-1B Petitions
For the employees selected in the lottery, the employers have 90 days to file petitions.
How soon should we file the petition?
It does not matter when you file the petition as long as USCIS gets the physical packet by June 30, 2023.
When can my employee start on H-1B?
Employees selected in this year's cap can start on H-1B on Oct 01, 2023.
Can my employee start earlier if we file the petition sooner?
No. The lottery selection is for Financial Year 2023, which starts on Oct 01, 2023. So, filing the petition earlier would still allow your employee to start on H-1B on Oct 01.
Questions?
We would love to answer them. Send us your questions at support@waylit.com and we'll be happy to send you our thoughts.
Content in this publication is not intended as legal advice, nor should it be relied on as such. For additional information on the issues discussed, consult a WayLit-affiliated attorney or another qualified professional.