Second lottery conducted to meet FY 2022 H-1B cap numbers
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will start accepting H-1B petitions from Aug. 2 from registrants picked up in a second lottery to meet the H-1B cap for FY 2022.
Indians have been cornering more than two thirds of the 80,000 work visas issued annually to high skilled professionals, including 20,000 with master’s or higher degrees from a US educational institution.
“We recently determined that we needed to select additional registrations to reach the FY 2022 numerical allocations,” the immigration agency said in a press release Thursday.
“On July 28, we selected previously submitted electronic registrations using a random selection process. The petition filing period based on registrations selected on July 28 will begin on Aug. 2 and close on Nov. 3,” it said.
Individuals with selected registrations will have their my USCIS accounts updated to include a selection notice, which includes details of when and where to file, USCIS said.
Read: USCIS to keep accepting DACA renewal requests (July 20, 2021)
In March 2021, USCIS said it conducted an initial random selection on properly submitted electronic registrations for the fiscal year 2022 H-1B cap, including for beneficiaries eligible for the advanced degree exemption.
“We use historical data related to approvals, denials, revocations, and other relevant factors to calculate the number of registrations needed to meet the H-1B cap for a given fiscal year,” it said.
Only those petitioners with selected registrations for FY 2022 are eligible to file H-1B cap-subject petitions. The initial filing period for those with selected registrations for FY 2022 was from April 1, 2021, through June 30, 2021.
USCIS had received 308,000 applications for the coveted work visa during this initial registration period for FY 2022, a 12.5% increase over FY2021.
An H-1B cap-subject petition must be properly filed at the correct service center and within the filing period indicated on the relevant registration selection notice, USCIS said.
Read: USCIS: Fresh petitions for H-1B visas to be accepted from August 2 (July 30, 2021)
Online filing is not available for H-1B petitions. Petitioners filing H-1B petitions must do so by paper and must include a printed copy of the applicable registration selection notice with the FY 2022 H-1B cap-subject petition.
Petitioners filing H-1B cap-subject petitions, including those petitions eligible for the advanced degree exemption, must still submit evidence and establish eligibility for petition approval based on existing statutory and regulatory requirements, USCIS said.