February 28, 2023 Article

FY2024 H-1B Registration Fact Sheet for Employers

Registration Process

To file H-1B petitions subject to the FY2024 cap for an employee, you must first electronically register and pay a $10 fee for each electronic registration. The electronic registration includes basic information about the employer and employee. If prepared by an attorney, the process requires an electronic handshake between the employer and attorney. Registrations must be submitted between March 1 and March 17, 2023.

When you register, you must pay a non-refundable $10 fee online for each registration using the pay.gov portal. Payment can be made via ACH transfer from a bank account, a credit card, or a debit card. This fee is in addition to the filing fees you will have to pay later with the petition if the employee is selected in the cap lottery. If an attorney is filing on your behalf, please consult with the attorney about how this payment will be made.

Please note: employers are prohibited from submitting more than one registration for the same prospective H-1B employee. If an employer or its attorney submits more than one registration for the same H-1B candidate in a fiscal year, all registrations for that candidate will be invalid. USCIS has created a tool to allow employers and their attorneys to check for duplicate registrations.

The Lottery and Filing Petitions

After the registration period, USCIS will randomly select registrations from the ones it has received and will electronically notify you or your attorney if your employee has been selected. This will happen no later than March 31, 2023. If your employee’s registration is selected, then you will have at least 90 days to file a fully prepared H-1B cap-subject petition for the employee starting April 1. If your employee’s registration is not selected, the registration will be maintained until USCIS determines that it has received enough petitions to meet the cap. Once the cap has been reached, registrations that were not selected will be updated online as “not selected.”

What Should I Do Now?

Schedule a meeting with your attorney’s office before the registration period to discuss prospective H-1B petitions and whether the job and the individual would qualify for an H-1B. You should also discuss the timing of filing your H-1B petition with your attorney. To do this, you should:

  • Gather all relevant information about the job and the prospective employee’s qualifications
  • Starting at 12:00 noon (ET) on February 21, set up an employer account on myUSCIS as an “H-1B registrant.” See USCIS’s PowerPoint presentation for more details.
  • Call your attorney’s office with any questions.

Be prepared to discuss your expectations for processing your registration and how quickly a petition needs to be filed if selected. Your attorney can also discuss options if your registration is not selected.

If you have questions about the H-1B visa process, please contact Mariana Baron at 207.791.3260 or [email protected].

Resources

Firm Highlights

News

43 Preti Flaherty Attorneys Selected by Peers for Inclusion in Best Lawyers in America 2024, Including 1 “Lawyer of the Year”

Forty-three Preti Flaherty attorneys have been named to Best Lawyers in America 2024, including five “Ones to Watch” and one “Lawyer of the Year.” Inclusion in Best Lawyers in America is considered a high...

Publication

What to Expect When You're Expecting: Two New Federal Laws Expand Workplace Rights and Protections for Pregnant and Nursing Employees

On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed two (2) bills into law that expand workplace protections for pregnant and nursing employees—the  Pregnant Workers Fairness Act  (the "PWFA") and the  Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for...

Publication

New EEOC Poster Requirement and Guidance on Notice-Posting in Hybrid Workplaces

A modified version of this article was published in Mainebiz on February 3, 2023. Read the article here . The U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) recently updated the “EEO is the Law” poster and...

Event

2023 Maine Employment Law Summit

For nearly 30 years, Preti Flaherty's Employment Law team has provided Maine employers with practical guidance and best practices at our annual Employment Law Summit. Join us  Thursday, October 5  for the 2023 Employment...

News

14 Preti Flaherty Attorneys Selected as Chambers USA Leaders in Their Field

Fourteen Preti Flaherty attorneys and six practice groups have been selected for inclusion in the 2023 Chambers USA Guide to America's Leading Lawyers for Business , the highly regarded directory of leading attorneys and...

Publication

H-2B Visa Program Summary

The H-2B classification allows foreign nationals who are citizens of certain named countries, with limited exceptions, to accept temporary non-agricultural employment in the United States, after the employer has obtained temporary labor certification by...