On November 19, 2021, USCIS conducted a third round of selections for Registrations submitted for the Fiscal Year 2022 H-1B Cap. This news comes approximately two (2) weeks after H-1B Petitions selected in the second randomized drawing were due, USCIS’ third round of selections confirms that they still have not received sufficient H-1B Petitions to fill their 85,000-visa quota.
With that, the Service has begun updating online accounts to confirm selection, in which case Petitioners will once again have 90 days to prepare and submit the full filing to the Service Center indicated on the Selection Notice. According to USCIS’ announcement, those Petitions may arrive at USCIS starting November 22, 2021, and no later than February 23, 2022.
Following this unprecedented move, though, there do remain many unanswered questions. For example, whether Petitions filed in the first few months of 2022 will still only be able to request employment from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2024, or if they will be able to request three (3) years from when the Petitions arrive at USCIS. Likewise, it is unclear whether USCIS will expand the “Cap-Gap” provision in order to extended work authorization for F-1 Students’ OPT and STEM OPT Employment Authorization Documents that would otherwise expire in the coming months. We will update this space as soon as we know more on these topics, and others.
We have begun receiving third round selections, and expect more to arrive into the evening and over the weekend. Accordingly, we will reach out in the event we filed your H-1B Cap Registration and it has been selected. And of course, if you have any questions or concerns regarding your H-1B Registration’s selection or subsequent filing, please do not hesitate to call our office.
