Managers and recruiters need to be ready to answer questions concerning the H-1B cap registration process for the fiscal year 2023. Starting the process requires a $10 registration fee and a small amount of information.

Here are some details that companies who want to register beneficiaries should consider.

• Companies Can Only File One Registration:

  Companies must not submit duplicate registrations. If a company does submit more than one registration per beneficiary, none of the registrations for that beneficiary will be considered valid. The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) may be introducing a feature sometime in 2022 that will allow those filing registrations to see if they have filed duplicate registrations. This could help companies avoid accidental duplicate registrations. You can review the AILA website for a model (proposed changes are in red).

• Withdrawing Form G-28:

  The system will now warn people that if they withdraw a Form G-28 associated with their registration, it will not delete the submitted H-1B registration.

• Companies Should Not Wait To File Their Labor Condition Application (LCA):

  To prevent a processing delay, companies should file a Labor Condition Application (LCA) right away rather than waiting for the selection results.

• High Demand:

  There is expected to be heavy demand for the upcoming lottery. The USCIS received 308,613 H-1B registrations for the 85,000 visa numbers available in the FY2022 lottery. If registration is not selected, it will be held in reserve in the event another lottery is held.

• H-1B Cap Case:

  Some companies may want to consider filing a cap case for some of their employees or potential hires if they have another non-immigrant visa status. This is a particularly good idea for employees whose non-immigrant time will max out within the next three years.

• Supplemental Lottery:

  In the last two years, the USCIS conducted supplemental lotteries with fewer H-1B petitions filed than H-1B registrations. One additional lottery was held in 2020 and two supplemental lotteries held in 2021. There will not necessarily be a supplemental lottery held in 2022; it depends on whether enough H-1B petitions are filed for the registrations. However, if there is an additional lottery, some reserved registrations may be selected.

The registration period for the H-1B lottery takes place from March 1st, 2022, at noon through March 18th, 2022, at noon. There is a $10 registration fee to register. The USCIS will select registrants no later than March 31st, 2022. Once registration is selected, the employer has 90 days to complete and file the registration for the beneficiary.

If your company does choose to hire a foreign national, the process can be complex and require a considerable amount of paperwork. Foremost among these may be the Form I-9 which can prove challenging to complete when hiring foreign nationals. The best way to simplify this process is with an electronic I-9 management tool which can guide hiring personnel through the process and ensure paperwork is filed correctly and securely stored for review whenever it is required. See UCIS Website for more information.

Automate your employment eligibility verification today with the ensured compliance of I-9 Compliance.