H-1B Petition Window Announced; H-1B Wage-Based Selection Process Will Not Be Implemented for 2021

THE REQUIRED REGISTRATION PROCESS FOR H-1B PETITIONS WILL BE MARCH 9, 2021: H-1B WAGE-BASED SELECTION PROCESS WILL NOT BE IMPLEMEMTED FOR THE 2021 SELECTION 

On February 5, 2021, USCIS announced that the initial registration period for FY2022 H-1B cap will open at noon (ET) on March 9 and run through noon (ET) on March 25. The selection process will be a random selection as in the past.  Those petitions selected in the process are expected to be notified March 31^st.  Registering for the selection is required to have a chance to file the full petition and have it adjudicated.  The registration process is electronic and requires a fair amount of detail that may not then be able to be changed later.  Note that last year there was concern that even though USCIS anticipated the registration period to be open for some days, they would close it once they received more registrations than there are visas available, so we highly recommend that if you are thinking of filing an H-1B petition you contact Barbara Marcouiller for assistance as soon as is practicable to have the case prepared to submit as close to March 9^th as possible.

On February 4, 2021, USCIS announced that the effective date of the H-1B Wage Selection Final Rule will be delayed until December 31, 2021.  That delay means that a random selection as in recent years will be conducted again this year.  This rule regarding selecting H-1B petitions based on the highest salary is highly controversial, as you can imagine, though it has support from both the current and former administrations.  The details of how the rule will be implemented may still be open to change, and immigration lawyers among others are advocating for a system that is more fair to employers such as non-profit organizations, government or quasi-government organizations including public schools, employer’s whose salaries are subject to collective bargaining agreements, and start-ups.

We will continue to keep you informed about the wage-based selection system as it moves forward, but right now is the time to move forward if you intend to take advantage of the random selection process that will still be used this year, in just a couple weeks!

For more information or for assistance with your H-1B registration and filing, contact Barbara A. Marcouiller.