USCIS announced today that they have conducted a second round lottery selection for the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY 2022) H-1B CAP, and began notifying employers and their Immigration Counsel of the results. This is good news for those that were not selected in the first round of the H-1B lottery for FY 2022, giving them an opportunity for selection.
In March 2021, USCIS conducted an initial random selection on properly submitted electronic registrations for the FY 2022 H-1B CAP, including for beneficiaries eligible for the advanced degree exemption. Only those petitioners with selected registrations for FY 2022 were eligible to file H-1B CAP-subject petitions. The initial filing period for those with selected registrations was from April 1, 2021 through June 30, 2021. USCIS determined that they needed to select additional registrations to reach the numerical allocations and have therefore made a second lottery selection on July 29, 2021.
Employers whose H-1B registrations are selected will have from August 2 to November 3, 2021, to submit their H-1B CAP petition. Individuals with selected registrations will have selection notices uploaded to their myUSCIS accounts, which includes details of when and where to file. An H-1B CAP-subject petition must be properly filed at the correct service center and within the filing period indicated on the registration selection notice. Online filing is not available for H-1B petitions. Petitioners filing H-1B petitions must do so by paper and must include a printed copy of the applicable registration selection notice with the FY 2022 H-1B CAP-subject petition.
Registration selection only indicates that petitioners are eligible to file H-1B CAP-subject petitions; it does not indicate that the petition will be approved. Petitioners filing H-1B CAP-subject petitions, including those petitions eligible for the advanced degree exemption, must still submit evidence and establish eligibility for petition approval based on existing statutory and regulatory requirements.
Please reach out to your Greenspoon Marder LLP Immigration & Naturalization Practice Group attorney for any further questions or concerns.