USCIS ANNOUNCES H-1B CAP REGISTRATION WINDOW AND CHANGES TO REGISTRATION PROCESS

The fiscal year 2025 (March 2024) H-1B cap registration period will open at noon eastern on March 6, 2024 and run through noon eastern on March 22, 2024. For fiscal year 2025 H-1B cap filings, employers will also have the option of filing Form I-129 electronically on the USCIS website.

On January 30, 2024, USCIS announced a final rule to reduce the potential for fraud in the H-1B registration process. The new rule selects H-1B cap entries by each unique employee, instead of by each registration. This gives each employee the same chance of selection, regardless of how many registrations were submitted on that employee’s behalf.

With this update to the registration process, the employee is required to include valid passport or travel document information, and a employee cannot register under more than one passport or travel document.

USCIS has also provided clarification that for H-1B cap petitions, a start date after October 1 of the relevant fiscal year is allowed.