H-1B Registration Opens for Fiscal Year 2024

It was announced by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that the initial registration period for the fiscal year 2024 H-1B cap will begin on March 1, 2023 at noon US Eastern time and end on March 17, 2023 at noon US Eastern time.

During this time, individuals and representatives can submit their registrations using the USCIS online system.

A confirmation number will be assigned to each registration submitted for the FY 2024 H-1B cap, which will be used solely to track registrations and will not be used to track case status.

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 information provided during the electronic registration process is used to determine whether a petition for an H-1B visa falls under the regular cap of 65,000 or the advanced degree exemption, which allows for an exemption from the H-1B cap for beneficiaries who have earned a U.S. master’s degree or higher, up to a limit of 20,000.

Registration is required to file cap-subject H-1B petitions in 2023

Petitions for H-1B visas that are subject to the cap, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, can only be filed if they are based on a selected FY 2024 registration for the beneficiary named in the petition. The petition must be filed no more than six months before the requested employment start date for the beneficiary. The specific filing period and filing location for your petition will be located on your H-1B Registration Selection Notice if the case is selected for adjudication by USCIS.

2024 Fiscal year designation in H-1B cases

The H-1B visa lottery is a process used by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to randomly select a limited number of petitions to be considered for the H-1B visa program. The lottery is conducted annually, and the fiscal year (FY) for which the lottery is being held determines the filing period for petitions.

For example, the FY 2024 H-1B lottery refers to the lottery for the fiscal year that begins on October 1, 2023. Lottery registration for the FY 2024 H-1B lottery must be filed during the designated filing period in 2023, starting March 1st, 2023. The selected petitions can then be filed with USCIS for adjudication.