10 FAQ’s About H1B Visa FY 2022 Registration Dates

USCIS announced H1B Lottery Registration Dates. The dates are delayed by 9 days when compared to last year’s registration dates.

H1B Visa Registration Dates:

• Opens – March 9, 12 PM EST
• Closes: March 25, 12 PM EST
• Results: By March 31, 2021

Note – Last year, the H1B Visa Registration windows was open between March 1-20, 2020.

1. Who can register the H1B Visa applicant?

• Employer (or petitioner)
• Employer’s Representative

Note – Employee’s can’t self-register. And this could lead to denial.

2. How to Register?

The petitioner (employer) or their representative (Immigration attorney) would create an USCIS online account at myUSCIS. They can submit multiple registrations per submission. I believe the limit was 20 per submission lats year.

3. What is the cost to Register for upcoming H-1b Visa Lottery?

Each registration will cost $10. If they do multiple registration per submissions, then before submission, payment for total submission is required.

4. What happens if by mistake both employer and attorney submits registration for the same employee?

USCIS would deny both registrations. I have seen such mistakes in the last year (FY 2021) registration where oversight by employer (or their attorney) resulted in declined registrations.

5. Is H1B Applications going to be selected by Wage Level?

USCIS announced that Wage Based H1B Visa Lottery selection is delayed until Dec 31, 2021.

6. I applied for H1B last year. It’s still in Submitted State. Will I get priority over this year applicants?

According to USCIS H1B Visa Registration Rule, petitions not selected will stay in the Submitted state until the end of the Fiscal Year (September 30, 2021). And, they will not be includes in this year’s lottery by default. New Registration is required.

7. Can the Registration be edited after submission for mistakes?

USCIS will allow petitioners to edit a registration up until the petitioner submits the registration. A petitioner may delete a registration and resubmit it prior to the close of the registration period of Noon, March 25, 2021.

8. Will the system warn of duplicate submissions?

Wouldn’t that be nice, if there were duplicate petition warning? But, imagine you are applying via multiple employer and system warns of duplicate petition! I know you would ask to warn only if the same employer is submitting duplicate petitions. It’s possible to design the software ti do that, but as of today, there will be no warning (as far we know).

9. If I get selected in Registration means my H1B Visa is approved?

Absolutely not! After the selection via Registration, USCIS will want to see documents from the applicants.

It is not intended to replace the petition adjudication process or assess the eligibility of the beneficiary for the offered position. The purpose of the information provided at the time of registration is to allow USCIS to efficiently identify the prospective H-1B petitioner and the named beneficiary, eliminate duplicate registrations, to select sufficient registrations toward the H-1B cap and the advanced degree exemption, and to match selected registrations with subsequently filed H-1B petitions. As such, DHS is declining to adopt the suggestion of including an eligibility assessment as part of the registration process. 

10. Will there be second lottery in FY 2022?

Will it rain 1.5″ next Thursday! Maybe! Last year, there was a second lottery. About 18,000 petitions were selected in the second lottery.