United States | H-1B organizational accounts, registration reminders

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is gearing up for H-1B cap season, with new organizational accounts launched today and the H-1B registration window opening next week.

Key Points:

• Today, USCIS launched myUSCIS organizational accounts designed to allow multiple people within organizations and their legal representatives to collaborate on and prepare H-1B registrations. Petitioners with existing accounts do not need to create new ones and will automatically have access to the enhancements. A USCIS organizational accounts FAQ is available here. BAL urges employers to work closely with BAL before accessing their accounts.
• H-1B registration will be open noon EST on March 6 through noon EDT on March 22. During this time, petitioners can use their USCIS online accounts to register H-1B beneficiaries electronically.
• Under this year’s procedures, USCIS will require registrants to provide valid passport or travel document information for each beneficiary. The passport or travel document provided must be the one the beneficiary, if or when abroad, intends to use to enter the United States if issued an H-1B visa. Each beneficiary must be registered under only one passport or travel document. The same passport or travel document number must be used on the I-129 petition that gets filed on behalf of the beneficiary if he or she is selected in the lottery.

Additional Information: Following the registration period, USCIS will conduct a lottery to determine which registrations will be eligible for H-1B petition filing beginning April 1. Under a recently published regulation, the agency will switch to a beneficiary-centric lottery this year, meaning each beneficiary can be selected only once, regardless of how many registrations were submitted on his or her behalf. BAL urges employers to work closely with their BAL team as they prepare for H-1B cap registration and throughout cap season.|

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

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