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USCIS says that the two biggest errors that they see employers make are:
Creating wrong type of account
Multiple entries for same beneficiary
Which account should the employer's Point of Contact (POC) create?
Employer's POC should create a "Registrant" account
Registrant account: As the point of contact for the employer you should register using the registrant account, regardless of whether you will be using an attorney or accredited representative to submit the registration.
Do NOT create "Applicant" or "Attorney" accounts
Applicant/Petitioner/Requestor account: this account is for employer's point of contacts to prepare and file petitions
Attorney/Representative account: this account is for your immigration attorney's or accredited representative's use
Do NOT create duplicate entries for an employee
USCIS strongly recommends that employers make sure that every beneficiary (foreign national employee) has only one registration.
Penalty: If USCIS finds duplicate registrations for a particular employee, the agency will remove ALL registrations for that particular employee. This means that the employee will have no registrations in the lottery and the employer cannot add the employee again.
Recommendation: As the employer, you should make sure that there are no duplicate entries. For employers with multiple employees, you can use the "View CSV of beneficiary table" to download the list of beneficiaries to check for duplicates.
Duplicates discovered before registration period ends: If you find duplicates before the registration ends, you should remove them. Note - The registration fee of $10 will not be refunded for deleted registrations.
Duplicates discovered after registration period ends: As mentioned above, if USCIS finds duplicates after the registration period ends, the agency will remove ALL registrations for that particular employee/beneficiary.
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.