Quick Takeaways:
- Selection process for Fiscal Year 2021 H-1B Cap completed
- USCIS will alert selected Registrations no later than March 31, 2020
- 90-day filing period will commence April 1, 2020
- Unselected Registrations will remain on file until the FY 2021 H-1B Cap has been reached
On March 27, 2020, USCIS announced that it had completed its initial selection of Registrations submitted in this year’s H-1B Cap Lottery. USCIS did not advise how many Registrations it received between March 1 and March 20, 2020, but that it would alert those Registrations selected in this first drawing no later than March 31, 2020. Each selected Registration will include a unique Beneficiary confirmation number and will direct the Service Center to which the full Petition must be sent between April 1and June 30, 2020. As unselected Registrations will remain on file until USCIS has issued its quota of 85,000 new H-1B Visas, it is highly likely that there will be additional drawings later this year.
As of today, there are no plans to delay the initial 90-day filing window that opens on April 1, 2020. When that window opens, Premium Processing will not be available to any H-1B Petitions submitted for adjudication. With Premium Processing recently suspended for all I-129 and I-140 Petitions, it is unclear whether USCIS’ original timeline of allowing certain H-1B Cap Petitions to request Premium Processing before May 27, 2020 still stands.
Confirmed selections are trickling-in as we speak. 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.
