April 6, 2023

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it received enough registrations for the 2024 fiscal year H-1B cap. According to the USCIS, it met and exceeded the limit during the initial registration period. This news includes the regular and advanced degree cap for holders of master’s degrees and higher.

As a result, the agency also performed its random selection from the correctly submitted registrations using its electronic lottery system. After completing this process, the USCIS notified the chosen petitioners of their acceptance. The USCIS also reminded registrants to check their online accounts to view the statuses of each beneficiary.

• Submitted: The registrant has submitted an eligible selection. If the initial selection process has finished, this registration remains eligible for selection in subsequent selections for the fiscal year unless subsequently invalidated.
• Selected: Selected to file an H-1B cap petition.
• Denied: The same registrant submitted multiple registrations by or on behalf of the same beneficiary. If denied as a duplicate registration, all registrations submitted by or on behalf of the same registrant for this beneficiary for the fiscal year become invalid.
• Invalidated-Failed Payment: A submitted registration’s payment method did not go through. Reasons for this invalidation include a declined, not reconciled, dispute, or otherwise invalid payment.

Interested parties may file cap-subject petitions for those with a selected registration beginning April 1st, 2024. These petitions include those under the advanced degree exemption. Only those with a “Selected” status on their account may file a cap-subject H-1B petition, and only for the specific beneficiary listed in the registration.

Registrants must file H-1B petitions with the appropriate service center within the filing period listed on the relevant selection notice. This period will always be a minimum of 90 days. The USCIS has not made online filing available for H-1B petitions. As such, registrants must submit paper petitions. In addition, they must include a printed copy of the registration notice with the corresponding cap-subject petition.

Regardless of the selection when submitting a petition, registrants should prepare to present evidence of eligibility. This preparation ensures that the selection can proceed with registration in the lottery without delay. For many employers, completing the lottery process ends with good news. However, employers should expect to complete many steps before completing the hiring process. For example, they must accurately complete the employment eligibility verification (Form I-9) process. 

The employment eligibility verification process can become a minefield for costly mistakes. As such, one of the best ways to ensure compliance is with an electronic I-9 management tool. This tool can provide step-by-step guidance throughout the process. It also offers a suite of features, including storage for forms and documentation and reminders to ensure continued compliance.

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

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