The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) component within the Department of Homeland Security announced recently that the initial registration period for the fiscal year (FY) 2023 H-1B visa lottery will begin at noon Eastern time on March 1, 2022, and run through noon Eastern time on March 18. USCIS is the agency within DHS that administers the nation’s naturalization and immigration system.
USCIS implemented an electronic registration procedure in 2020 under which a U.S. employer seeking an H-1B visa for a foreign worker must pre-register on the agency’s website and pay a $10 registration fee for each beneficiary to be considered for the annual H-1B lottery.
The H-1B visa program is intended to help American companies deal with labor shortages in rapidly growing fields that demand specialized skills. H-1B visas are issued to foreign workers in “specialty occupations” that require the theoretical and practical application of highly specialized knowledge, most commonly in computing, science, math, and engineering fields. Demand for H-1B visas typically exceeds the statutory quota, and as a result, visas are granted through a lottery.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.