U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) announced on January 28, 2022, that this year’s annual application period for the FY 2022 H-1B program will run from March 1, 2022, through March 18, 2022. Continuing the new electronic registration process that USCIS implemented for the first time two years ago, employers seeking new H-1B visas must register electronically with USCIS during the 16-day window. USCIS will then review all registrations submitted. If demand exceeds supply as in years past, USCIS will conduct a random lottery. Employers whose application(s) are selected should be notified by mid-April. If demand this year is similar to last, it is possible that USCIS will conduct two or more lotteries later in the year to reconsider submissions that were not initially selected. In any case, employers should plan to file as early as possible once registration is open and by no later than March 18, 2022, to be considered for this year’s program.
The H-1B visa is the most commonly used immigration solution for companies seeking to hire foreign nationals for professional and specialty occupations. Unfortunately, due to an arbitrary cap imposed by Congress on the number of new H-1B visas available every year, demand normally exceeds supply. Congress only makes 65,000 new H-1B visas available per year, along with another 20,000 reserved for holders of U.S. earned master’s degrees. For most of the last decade, there were two to four times more H-1B applications submitted than visas available.
The H-1B application process involves multiple federal agencies and deadlines. Employers are urged to begin the process as early as possible. As a preliminary matter, employers are required to submit and obtain certification of a Labor Condition Application (“LCA”) with the U.S. Department of Labor before submitting an H-1B petition to USCIS. That process alone can take weeks to complete and should be started as early as possible to avoid critical delays. Employers should be preparing now for the March registration period.
Schwabe’s team of immigration professionals have extensive experience with all manner of employment-based immigration visas, especially the H-1B.
