DHS Provides a Few New Details on H1B Registration System

This morning, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice in the Federal Register, officially announcing the implementation of the registration system for cap-subject H1B petitions being filed for fiscal year 2021 (FY21). This formalizes the announcement made to this effect by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in December 2019. Although much of the information in today’s notice echoes what the USCIS previously posted, the notice does provide a few new details.

Registration Accounts

As previously announced, the initial registration period will run from March 1 through March 20, 2020. The notice clarifies that employers and their legal representatives will be able to set up registration accounts prior to March 1. The USCIS will post on its website the date that employers and their representatives can set up these accounts. The notice further explains that it will be possible to prepare, edit, and store draft registrations in the electronic registration system prior to final payment and submission.

Notification

Today’s notice verifies that those with selected registrations during the initial registration period will be notified by March 31, 2020. The only notification that the USCIS will provide will be an eMail or text message sent to the account holder who submitted the registration, indicating that an action has been added to the account. The account holder will need to log in to the account to see what specific action was taken. The USCIS did not clarify whether it will send any type of notification if a registration is not selected.

Conclusion

MurthyDotCom will continue to closely track updates and changes to the new H1B registration system. Subscribe to the MurthyBulletin to receive future updates.