USCIS will be accepting initial registrations for H-1B visa for FY 2023 from March 1 to March 18
For those who have been eyeing the much-talked about H-1B visa to the United States, it’s time to get busy with tons of paperwork. USCIS has announced that they will be accepting H-1B registrations for the next fiscal year 2023 starting Oct 1, from March 1 to 18 this year.
So, if you are already in the lottery race, or it is something that you are looking at, here’s a step-by-step guide on how an H-1B lottery works
Read: USCIS opens H-1B registration for FY 2023 on March 1 (January 29, 2022)
Why a Visa Lottery?
Traditionally, USCIS has been receiving many more registration requests than the number that is fixed every year to allot the H-1B visas.
For example, USCIS received 380,613 registrations in the fiscal year 2022 when the quota limit is 85,000. Since the number of registrations received by the USCIS exceeds its quota manifold they run a lottery from the total registrations.
So, simply speaking it is a random selection process to pick 85,000 applicants who will be eligible to file the H-1B visa applications for that fiscal year.
What is H-1B Visa Registration?
If you belong to the pool that filed an H-1B application years ago, you may not be familiar with the new registration process. This step was introduced two years ago by the USCIS.
The process was added to streamline the process and is relatively simple. Here the employers are supposed to submit the applicant details for the candidate they intend to file an H-1B visa for. The simple online form costs only $10 per applicant for this step.
How to Begin
Before the USCIS starts accepting registrations for H-1B starting on March 1, 2022 at 12 noon, those hoping for an H-1B visa must have created a USCIS account.
All the employers as well as representatives must upload their company details on myUSCIS account. The process will be available from Feb 21, 2022 onwards.
The Submission Process
Come March 1, registrations can be created by employers or the representatives in the online H-1B registration system. This process contrary to popular belief is relatively simple where basic details of the applicant such as name, gender, qualification, date of birth etc is to be filled.
Confirmation Number
Once your registration is submitted, USCIS will be assigning a confirmation number for each of the submitted registrations. This will continue until March 18, 2022.
Read: United States: FY 2023 H-1B Cap Season: 4 Key Things To Know (February 7, 2022)
Lottery
If there are more than 85,000 registrations submitted, which is a usual occurrence, USCIS will be running an H-1B lottery.
The selected account holders will be notified by March 31, 2022. The selected applicants will now be getting 90 days to file petitions from April 1 to June 30 this year.