US H-1B visa registration for FY’23 from March 1 to 18

Registration for H-1B visa for FY’23 will be from March 1 to 18, 2022, during which period petitioners and representatives will be able to complete and submit their documentation online, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said.

USCIS will assign a confirmation number to each registration submitted for the FY’23 cap. This number is used to track registrations, but not case status in Case Status Online, it said.

“Prospective H-1B cap-subject petitioners or their representatives are required to use a myUSCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee for each registration submitted on behalf of each beneficiary,” the statement said. 

“Prospective petitioners submitting their own registrations (US employers and US agents, collectively known as ‘registrants’) will use a ‘registrant’ account. Registrants will be able to create new accounts beginning at noon Eastern on February 21.”

Also see: Travails of H1-B visa holders continue

Representatives can add clients to their accounts at any time, but both representatives and registrants must wait until March 1 to enter beneficiary information and submit the registration with the $10 fee, the statement said. “Prospective petitioners or their representatives will be able to submit registrations for multiple beneficiaries in a single online session. Through the account, they will be able to prepare, edit and store draft registrations prior to final payment and submission of each registration,” the release said.

Prospective petitioners will be selected “randomly if we receive enough registrations” by March 18, and selection notifications via users’ myUSCIS online accounts will be sent to account holders by March 31, it said.

H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

Every year, the US issues 65,000 H-1B visas, with another 20,000 reserved for US masters’ degree holders. Indians are among the biggest beneficiaries of the programme, receiving about 70 per cent of new visas issued each year.