- Second round of selections underway for those Registrations still on file from March 2020.
- At this time it is unclear how many additional Registrations will be selected or for how long the second round will run.
- Selected Registrations will have 90 days to submit full Petitions requesting employment as early as October 1, 2020.
- Premium Processing available at this time.
It has been almost five months since USCIS completed its initial selection of Fiscal Year 2021 H-1B Cap Lottery. Per our earlier coverage, USCIS kept the nearly 200,000 unselected Registrations on file in the event it would re-open the selection process should it fail to receive sufficient H-1B Petitions to fill its 85,000-visa quota. In light of COVID-19’s effects on the U.S. economy, we were confident that an additional drawing would take place, but uncertain as to when it would begin.
Without any formal announcement but following a steady stream of rumors it would be coming soon, as of today USCIS began this second round of. As of writing it is unclear for how long this second round of selections will go, how many un-selected Registrations will be picked, and how said selections are divided between the Regular Cap and the U.S. Master’s Cap. 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. As before, the H-1B Petition may request H-1B employment as soon as October 1, 2020; one wrinkle for these Petitions that may be submitted long after October 1, is that according to the new Selection Notices we have reviewed, no matter when they are filed they must “include a start date of October 1, 2020 consistent with the selected registration or the petition may be rejected.”
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.
