Immigration attorney Emily Newman said there is a possibility that H-1B registration will be reduced this year when the initial H-1B cap registration period begins on March 4, due to the new $100,000 fee and also due to the current state of the labor market.
The registration window will open from noon ET on March 4 to noon ET on March 19. During this time period, petitioners must register each beneficiary they wish to be designated for the selection process and pay a $215 registration fee. The selection results will be known by March 31. The $100,000 fee will apply at candidate selection, if outside the United States.Some companies go ahead and register their H-1B candidates, knowing they will have to pay $100,000, Newman said.
They are willing to wait and watch whether these candidates are selected or not. Some companies are also hoping that the H-1B visa fee will be blocked by the court since there are two ongoing cases against the fee. If the H-1B visa fee remains, these companies may not file the final petition until after their candidates are selected.
“This means we may have a second lottery because if people are selected in the first round and then companies don’t come forward to fill the cap, we could see a second lottery happen this year,” Newman explained.
Questions on the new H-1B registration form
For the first time, the selection process will not be a random lottery. Priority will be given to allocating visas to workers with higher skills and higher wages. Newman said she glanced at the new registration form asking for the beneficiary’s name, date of birth, country and passport, whether registering in a master’s hat or a bachelor’s hat.While these are the general questions already present in the previous forms, this year the new question will ask the petitioner the level of pay. In this section, applicants have to choose from 1, 2, 3 or 4. Another new question asks about intended field of work, but Newman said there is no specific option, it is just a text box. “We don’t know what they want. Do they want the city, state, county, address…
“They didn’t say anything,” the attorney explained, adding that the new form surprisingly doesn’t ask about salary, SOC code or job title.
