The USCIS announced late last week that the initial registration period for the fiscal year 2024 (FY2024) H-1B cap would open at noon Eastern on March 1. It will run through noon Eastern on March 17, 2023. During this period, prospective petitioners and representatives can complete and submit their registrations using the Service’s online H-1B registration system.
If the USCIS receives enough registrations by March 17, it will randomly select registrations and send selection notifications via users’ myUSCIS online accounts.
If they do not receive enough registrations, all properly submitted registrations will be selected. This applies to those submitted during the initial application period. The USCIS intends to notify account holders by March 31 of the lottery results.
The USCIS announced changes to the H-1B lottery process several years ago, including how the lottery is conducted. Under this new USCIS process, the lottery will first be conducted electronically. Then, followed by the submission of an H-1B petition for only lottery winners.
The new process requires H-1B petitioners to register potential H-1B cases to be eligible for the lottery. Additionally, this must be done before submitting an H-1B filing. Immediately after this registration period closes, the USCIS will conduct the lottery. The lottery winners are announced and notified via email. Then the petitioner shall have ninety (90) days to submit the completed H-1B petition.
