USCIS Provides More Details on H1B Online Filing System

On January 23, 2024, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) held a teleconference aimed at petitioning employers, explaining how companies will soon be able to use the new organizational accounts portal to file I-129 petitions for H1B workers online, along with I-907 requests for premium processing. A similar teleconference was held on January 24, 2024, for attorneys and other legal representatives, explaining how they will be able to use the online portal, as well. This platform is scheduled to go live sometime in mid-February.

Company Groups and Different Classes of Users

Once the system is launched, a company will be able to create one or more company groups. This will allow multiple people within an organization to collaborate in preparing each H1B petition for filing. The organization will designate one or more administrators for the account, who will have permissions to perform all of the necessary functions, including reviewing, editing, signing, and ultimately submitting the petition with the USCIS. A company group can also include members, who will be able to perform certain tasks, such as review the petition, but will lack most critical permissions, such as the ability to sign, submit, or pay for the petition.

Similarly, it will be possible to authorize a legal representative, such as an attorney, to handle various key aspects of a petition.

Additional Details

The online system will initially be limited to filing H1B registrations and petitions, as well as I-907 premium processing requests for H1B petitions that were filed online. The USCIS expects to eventually allow I-129 petitions to be filed online for other nonimmigrant categories (e.g., L-1, O); but no timeline was provided for how long this may take to implement. Similarly, H-4 dependents cannot yet apply online, leaving paper filing of the I-539 application as the only option.

The USCIS will continue to provide all notifications related to H1B registrations electronically. For H1B petitions, however, physical receipts will still be mailed, regardless of whether the H1B petition if filed electronically or via “snail mail”.

Preparing for Online Filing

The USCIS has provided answers to some frequently asked questions, although the information is of limited use. The USCIS recommends that each prospective H1B petitioning employer determine who within the company will establish the company group and invite others to join. The employer may wish to also decide who within the company will be a member.

As previously noted, it is possible for a petitioning employer to have more than one company group. However, no individual may be in more than one group. And, while the members of a single company group can collaborate with one another, it is not possible within the USCIS organizational account to collaborate with members of a different company group.

Conclusion

Once the organizational accounts system launches, we expect the USCIS will provide more specific information about how the online filing process will operate. We trust this will ultimately create a quicker and more efficient way of filing petitions for all parties involved.

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