USCIS recently announced the annual registration period for the FY2024 H-1B cap will open at noon (ET) on March 1, 2023, and remain open until noon (ET) on March 17, 2023. Registration is an annual electronic process through which USCIS receives registrations from employers seeking to sponsor a foreign national for an H-1B visa. USCIS has historically utilized the registrations to conduct a random H-1B lottery because more visas are requested each year than are available. Registrants are selected at random for an opportunity to fill one of the H-1B cap positions.

The number of H-1B visas available each year is limited to 65,000. An additional 20,000 H-1B visas are available to qualified foreign nationals holding a Master’s degree or higher. H-1B visas are generally available to foreign nationals that fill a role requiring at least a U.S. Bachelor’s degree in a specific specialty. The H-1B category is widely utilized by U.S. companies to employ engineers, IT professionals, teachers, and other skilled professionals.

When registration opens, employers and their legal representatives can begin entering beneficiary information and submit the $10.00 registration fee. Assuming enough registrations are received by March 17, 2023, USCIS will begin randomly selecting registrations and sending selection notifications. According to USCIS, those selected will be notified by March 31, 2023. Those not selected will be placed on a waitlist. The last several years, USCIS has conducted secondary lotteries for those waitlisted to utilize other H-1B visas that become available.

Importantly, some U.S. employers are exempt from the annual limitations placed on H-1B visas. Institutions of higher education and non-profit entities affiliated with institutions of higher education are just a couple examples.

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