Published on February 2, 2023

The Immigration Group at Ryan Swanson advises employers to start early preparation of H-1B petitions subject to the annual quota for the 2024 fiscal year.

Under the current H-1B cap electronic registration process, employers are required to pre-register for the H-1B lottery, and then submit H-1B cap registrations during the month of March 2023. Specifically, employers seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions for the 2024 fiscal year, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, must first electronically register each individual they wish to sponsor for H-1B status, and pay the associated $10 fee for each registration. The initial registration period will open at noon Eastern Daylight Time on March 1, 2023, and run through noon Eastern Daylight Time on March 17, 2023. USCIS will then run the H-1B selection process or “lottery” based on those registrations, and notify employers of the results by March 31st. Only those H-1B petitions with a selected registration will be eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition during a 90-day period, which is expected to begin on April 1, 2023 and end on June 30, 2023.

As background, Congress has imposed an annual limit of 65,000 H-1B visas available to individuals with a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent work experience), and an additional 20,000 H-1B visas available to individuals who have a U.S. Master’s degree. The overall chance for selection is generally less than 50%; however, the odds of selection greatly depends on the number of registrations submitted each year. Last year, USCIS received 483,927 H-1B registrations.

We recommend that employers initiate any H-1B cap-subject petitions well in advance of the registration period to ensure timely submission of the registration. If an H-1B registration is selected in the lottery, the employer may then file an H-1B cap petition on the employee’s behalf. The current filing fees for an H-1B petition include a $460 filing fee, $500 anti-fraud fee, and an ACWIA Training Fee of $1,500 (if the employer has more than 25 employees), or $750 (if the employer has 25 or fewer employees). It is anticipated that premium processing will be permitted for H-1B cap petition filings this year. The premium processing fee is currently $2,500.

Please contact the immigration attorneys at Ryan Swanson if your company is considering sponsoring any individuals for H-1B status under the annual quota this year.