USCIS announced today that it has completed the second H-1B visa lottery for FY 2022 on 07/28/2021. The second lottery was conducted earlier than last year's H-1B program schedule. Due to some system issues, attorneys and legal representatives are not able to log in to the USCIS online account system to get the results of the second selection. The system issues do not seem to affact the employer accounts. Employers have been able to log in to the system to find out if their cases have been selected.
The first visa lottery was performed in late March this year. The initial filing period for the first group of selected registrations was from 04/01/2021 to 06/30/2021. Based on the number of cases filed, approved, abandoned, denied, rejected, etc., USCIS determined that additional applications are needed to reach the FY 2022 numerical cap. Hence, on 07/28/2021, a second batch of H-1B registrants were selected using a random selection process. The petition filing period for the second selected cases will begin on 08/02/2021 and close on 11/03/2021.
The selection notices can only be obtained from the USCIS online system. As noted, the system glitches on the morning of 07/29/2021 have prevented attorneys and legal representatives from accessing the case information and documents. However, employers have been able to login and retrieve their selection notices.
It is important to note that registration selection only allows an employer to submit an H-1B petition on behalf of the selected candidate, but it does not guarantee H-1B approval. As of now, only paper petitions are accepted by USCIS. The H-1B petition must also meet all the regulatory requirements before it can be approved. A printed copy of the applicable registration selection notice must also be submitted with the petition. The employer and employee information as well as the type of selection (regular cap vs. master cap) must match with the information in the selection notice, or else the petition will be rejected. The H-1B petition can only be submitted to the USCIS service center specified in the selection notice.
If additional information or documents are required, USCIS will issue a formal Request for Evidence notice to employers and applicants. It is important to respond to the RFE notice completely before the deadline. Although the filing window ends in November, the fiscal year start date of H-1B employment is 10/01/2021. Hence, it is important that the H-1B petitions be submitted as soon as possible. formal Request for Evidence notice
No comments:
Post a Comment