USCIS has begun notifying successful H-1B Cap Lottery “winners” and their attorneys via their USCIS online accounts. USCIS only sends a generic message specifying that action has been taken in the account. An employer or attorney user must login to his or her USCIS online account to learn the particulars of the notification. USCIS will complete notification of “winners” by March 31, 2022.
Once a registrant logs into the registrant’s USCIS online account, it will show one of the following statuses for each registration:
- Submitted: The registration has been submitted and is eligible for selection. If the initial selection process has been completed, this registration remains eligible for selection in any subsequent selections for the current fiscal year. Selected: Selected to file an H-1B cap petition. The Selection Notification must be used to file the H-1B petition.
- Not Selected: Not selected – not eligible to file an H-1B cap petition based on this registration
- Denied: Multiple registrations were submitted by or on behalf of the same registrant for 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 are invalid.
- Invalidated- Failed Payment: A registration was submitted but the payment method was declined, not reconciled, disputed, or otherwise invalid.
H-1B cap-subject beneficiaries, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, must have a valid “Selected” registration notification for this fiscal year in order to properly file an H-1B cap-subject petition.
The status of registrations that are not selected as part of any initial random selection process will remain as “Submitted.” Last year, there were two additional selections in July and November 2021.
Registrants and representatives that are not selected will not be notified until after USCIS has determined that they have reached the H-1B cap for that fiscal year. This year, notification of completion of the process was posted in February 2022.
For those lucky winners of this selection lottery, H-1B Cap petitions may be filed from April 1 – June 30, 2022. Once approved, H-1B employment may begin October 1, 2022.
If your registration was selected and you are looking for an attorney to file your H-1B petition, please contact E&M Mayock at info@emvisa.com or call 415-765-5111.
