USCIS conducts second H-1B lottery, invites submission of more FY 2021 petitions

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has conducted a second H-1B lottery for the 2021 fiscal year and began notifying employers Friday that they will be eligible to submit petitions for some H-1B registrations that were submitted in March but were not initially selected.

Key Points:

• Employers will be contacted if they have registrations that were selected in the second lottery. Employers can also check the status of their registrations by logging into their USCIS account.
• Employers will have from Aug. 17 to Nov. 16 to submit petitions for newly selected H-1B registrations.
• Employers are reminded that USCIS filing fees are set to increase on Oct. 2. The filing fee for an H-1B petition is poised to go up 21% to $555.

Background: USCIS conducted the initial H-1B lottery in late March; those who were selected were given 90 days to submit a petition beginning April 1. The agency conducted the second lottery because the number of petitions received was below the 85,000 annual quota for cap-subject petitions, 20,000 of which are set aside for advanced degree holders. It is not yet known how many additional registrations were selected in the second lottery.

BAL Analysis: Employers with newly selected registrations should work closely with BAL to make sure petitions are submitted on time. BAL will provide more information on the second round of H-1B cap filing as it becomes available.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.

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