As the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 filing date for H-1B visa petitions approaches, we thought it might be helpful to provide a status report on the H-1B visa program, with a particular focus on the new electronic registration requirement which will open on March 1, 2020, and end on March 20, 2020.
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 a body of highly specialized knowledge, most commonly in computing, science, math, and engineering fields. Demand for H-1B visas exceeds the statutory quota, and as a result, visas are granted through a lottery.
Registering for the FY 2021 H-1B lottery will be notably different this year from previous years with the launch of a new electronic registration requirement. Under the new procedure, any employer seeking an H-1B visa must pre-register electronically through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website and pay a $10 registration fee for each beneficiary in order to be considered for the H-1B lottery.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.