Ellis Porter Announces Free H-1B Cap Registration Service for Employers; Also, 12 Important Things to Know about the New H-1B Cap Registration Process
/Questions about our free H-1B registration service for employers? Let’s talk.
There has been much talk and speculation the past year regarding the new H-1B cap registration process proposed by USCIS. When will it be implemented? How will it work?
Need a refresher on general H-1B cap concepts? Check out our H-1B Cap FAQ Page
Well, USCIS has finally confirmed that the new H-1B cap registration process will be implemented for this year’s H-1B cap and they have also provided some additional details about how the registration process will work. However, USCIS has left several important questions about the registration process unanswered, indicating that more comprehensive guidance is forthcoming soon (but not confirming when).
Obviously, the uncertainty surrounding certain important aspects of the new H-1B cap registration process makes planning for this year’s H-1B cap even more challenging than in the past. To help employers navigate this new process, we’ve prepared a comprehensive strategic plan that includes a free H-1B cap registration service.
We’ve also prepared a Q&A discussing the 12 most important things to know about the H-1B cap registration process.
Looking for more H-1B cap registration information? Check out our H-1B Cap Registration Resource Center
Ellis Porter’s Plan for Managing the New H-1B Cap Registration Process
For Existing Employer Clients
As in years past, Ellis Porter will work with employer clients to identify possible H-1B candidates and screen for basic H-1B eligibility issues. Possible H-1B cap candidates can include potential employees currently outside the US, current F-1/OPT employees, current employees on H-4/EAD (a program that is likely to end this year) and current employees in L-1A or L-1B status that will not become eligible to file an Adjustment of Status before their maximum allowable period of status ends (seven years for L-1A; five years for L-1B).
Once the employer’s H-1B cap candidate list is confirmed, Ellis Porter will gather the information required to submit an H-1B cap registration for each employee via the USCIS online registration system.
Ellis Porter will submit registrations for all of the employer’s H-1B cap candidates during the March 1 - March 20, 2020 registration period. Ellis Porter will not charge any legal fees for our H-1B cap registration submission service (you read that right - we’re offering free H-1B cap registrations!).
Once USCIS completes their selection process, Ellis Porter will work with the employer to gather all standard information and documentation required to prepare and submit an LCA and a complete H-1B cap petition, within the 90-day filing window, for all employees whose registrations were selected. Ellis Porter’s attorney fees for preparing the H-1B cap petition will be consistent with our standard H-1B attorney fee schedule.
For New Employer Clients
Ellis Porter will conduct a free telephone consultation with potential new employer clients to explain the H-1B cap process and the new registration requirement. We will also discuss our attorney fees for filing H-1B cap petitions that are selected as part of the registration process.
Ellis Porter will help potential new employer clients identify possible H-1B candidates and screen for basic H-1B eligibility issues. Possible H-1B cap candidates can include potential employees currently outside the US, current F-1/OPT employees, current employees on H-4/EAD (a program that is likely to end this year) and current employees in L-1A or L-1B status that will not become eligible to file an Adjustment of Status before their maximum allowable period of status ends (seven years for L-1A; five years for L-1B).
Once the potential new employer’s H-1B cap candidate list is confirmed, Ellis Porter will gather the information required to submit an H-1B cap registration for each employee via the USCIS online registration system.
Ellis Porter will submit registrations for all of the employer’s H-1B cap candidates during the March 1 - March 20, 2020 registration period. Ellis Porter will not charge any legal fees for our H-1B cap registration submission service (you read that right - we’re offering free H-1B cap registrations!).
Once USCIS completes their selection process, Ellis Porter will work with the employer to gather all standard information and documentation required to prepare and submit an LCA and a complete H-1B cap petition, within the 90-day filing window, for all employees whose registrations were selected. Ellis Porter’s attorney fees for preparing the H-1B cap petition will be consistent with our standard H-1B attorney fees.
Questions about our free H-1B registration service for employers? Let’s talk.
12 important things to know about H-1B Cap registration
1 - What is H-1B cap registration?
Back in January 2019, USCIS announced that it was planning to create a new pre-filing registration process for the H-1B cap, significantly changing the way the H-1B cap application process is conducted. USCIS suspended implementation of the new registration process in 2019 (Fiscal Year 2020), but indicated it expected to implement the new process in 2020 (Fiscal Year 2021). Last month, USCIS confirmed that it is definitely implementing the new registration process for the FY 2021 H-1B cap, and just last week, USCIS published some additional details about the logistics of the H-1B cap registration process in the Federal Register.
2 - How will the new H-1B cap registration process work?
In past years, employers were required to submit fully-completed H-1B petitions on April 1 and USCIS was required to accept H-1B petition filings for at least a five-day period. For the past several years, USCIS received significantly more than 85,000 H-1B petitions during the five-day H-1B cap (last year over 190,000 H-1B cap petitions were filed), so it would conduct a random selection process (also known as the H-1B Cap Lottery) to determine which H-1B petitions would be processed for the available 85,000 available H-1B cap slots.
Under the new H-1B registration process, employers will now be required to submit a registration via an online USCIS tool for each employee they desire to be entered into the H-1B lottery selection process, before any H-1B petition is filed with USCIS. There will be a $10 non-refundable registration fee for each employee and there is a limited window of time in during which registrations can be submitted. Once the registration window is closed, USCIS will randomly select 85,000 registrants from the pool of all registrations received and then notify the registering employers that they can proceed with filing an H-1B petition for the selected employee.
3 - When can H-1B cap registrations be submitted and how do you register?
USCIS has confirmed that the registration period for this year’s H-1B Cap will be March 1 - March 20, 2020. Although the registration regulations authorize USCIS to extend the registration period if necessary if there are technical issues with the registration system, or if it does not receive enough registrations initially to meet the annual quotas (which is not likely), employers should plan for the registration period to end on March 20, 2020. All registrations will be required to be submitted using a USCIS online portal, which is expected to be accessed via the my.uscis.gov site, however specific details on how to create an account and register an employee have not yet been provided by USCIS. It is expected that USCIS will be providing detailed instructions in the coming days/weeks.
4 - What information must employers provide as part of the H-1B cap registration process?
USCIS has not yet officially confirmed all of the information an employer must provide to register an employee for the H-1B cap, however, based on previous announcements by USCIS it appears the information may be limited to the following employer and employee information:
Employer Information
Legal name of the petitioning company
The Doing Business As (DBA) names of the petitioning company, if applicable
Employer identification number (EIN) of the petitioning company
Primary U.S. office address of the petitioning company
Legal name, title, and contact information (daytime phone number and email address) of the authorized signatory
Employee Information
Employee’s full legal name
Employee’s gender
Does the employee have a master’s or higher degree from a U.S. institution of higher education? (to confirm if they are eligible for the Master’s Cap)
Employee’s date of birth
Employee’s country of birth
Employee’s country of citizenship
Employee’s passport number
USCIS has not suggested that any information about the employee’s proposed title, salary or worksite location will be required to be provided as part of the registration process.
5 - Can attorneys submit H-1B cap registration on behalf of their employer clients?
Yes, attorneys can submit H-1B registrations, and pay the H-1B registration fees, for employer clients, as long as a G-28 Attorney Representative Form is provided to USCIS.
6 - What attestations are employers required to make when submitting an H-1B cap registration?
The employer’s authorized signatory will be required to certify that all of the information contained in the registration is accurate and that the employer intends to file an H-1B petition on behalf of the employee named in the registration if they are selected.
7 - Is there a limit on how many registrations an employer can submit?
No. There is no specific numerical limit on how may employees an employer can register for the H-1B cap. Keep in mind however, that employers should only register employees for whom they have an actual job opportunity, since they are attesting that they intend to file an H-1B petition for the employee if selected. USCIS has suggested that employers who register employees, but then do not ultimately file H-1B cap applications for those employees if selected, may be investigated to determine if their actions demonstrate a pattern and practice of potential abuse of the registration system, in which case they could be subject to monetary fines or criminal penalties for making false statements and misrepresentations to the government.
8 - Can an employer submit more than one registration for an individual employee?
No. Employers can only submit one registration for a particular employee. USCIS has indicated that if an employer submits multiple registrations for the same employee, all registrations for that employee will be rejected.
9 - When will the selection process be conducted?
USCIS has indicated that they will conduct the random selection process to determine which 85,000 registrants can proceed with an H-1B cap petition immediately after the registration period closes, and that it intends to notify employers which of their employees have been selected no later than March 31, 2020. USCIS will notify employers by sending electronic selection notices that confirm that the employer may file an H-1B cap-subject petition on behalf of the foreign national employee named in the notice.
10 - If an employee’s registration is selected, when does the employer file the H-1B Cap petition?
The regulations require USCIS to establish a period of at least 90 days in which employers must file H-1B cap petitions for selected in the registration process. USCIS is expected to announce the exact filing period dates in the coming weeks, but it is anticipated that the petition filing period will begin on April 1, 2020.
11 - Can H-1B cap applications be filed using Premium Processing?
Not sure yet. USCIS has not yet announced whether premium processing will be available for H-1B cap petitions. Typically, USCIS does not make a decision as to the availability of premium processing until shortly before the cap filing season.
12 - Is the new H-1B cap registration process a good thing for employers?
Yes and (potentially) no. Under the new H-1B cap registration program, employers will now submit fully-prepared H-1B petitions only for those employees whose registrations have been selected. Compared to the old system, where employers had to submit fully-prepared H-1B petitions for all employees it was seeking to enter into the H-1B cap lottery even though only 30-40% would be selected for processing, the new registration system will save employers time (by allowing them to focus on collecting full documentation only for selected employees) and money (they will only have to pay attorney fees for H-1B petitions filed for selected employees). So from that perspective, the new H-1B cap registration process is beneficial for employers, and it should also save government resources and (hopefully) lead to more streamlined application processing.
However, because the financial barrier to submitting an H-1B cap registration is low (only $10 per registration), it’s possible that the total number of registrations submitted for potential H-1B employees will be higher, which means an employer’s chances of having their employees selected for an H-1B cap number may be lower than in past years.