WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE 2022 H-1B lottery – BAIS
H-1B lottery:
One of the most popular visas to work in the United States is the H1B visa. USCIS has been receiving more H1B applications in recent years than the required number of 85,000 applicants. To deal with situations of high demand, the USCIS introduced random selection, also known as the H1B Visa Lottery. USCIS normally picks the required number of applicants in this H1B lottery procedure to satisfy the 85,000 thresholds. DHS plans to make changes to the general lottery rules.
We can see from the H1B cap reach dates from FY 2004 to FY 2021 that there has been an H1B lottery for the last eight straight years. During the most recent year of FY 2021, 275,000 applications were submitted for the H1B lottery. Considering the trend, we don’t anticipate a drop in demand to prevent a lottery situation.
H-1B lottery:
In a lottery system, USCIS randomly selects registrants who submit their complete H-1B visa petition. There are 85,000 H-1B visas available each year. Annually, there are 65000 regular H1B visas and an additional 20000 visas reserved for applicants who have advanced degrees. People entering the U.S. to work in higher education or non-profit organizations are exempt from the H1B visa cap.
There will be 6,800 regular H-1B visas for citizens of Chile and Singapore among the 65,000 regular visas.
REGISTRATION PROCESS FOR LOTTERY:
To be eligible for the H1B lottery, employers used to have to submit the entire H1B package, including the LCA, fee, and supporting documents. USCIS and employers invested a great deal of time and money in this.
Starting with the H1B 2021 season, USCIS implemented a registration process to save everyone time and effort. The H1B registration process was successfully implemented and rolled out for the first time in the fiscal year 2021. Employers do not send the H1B Package in the new process; instead, they submit H1B registrations for their applicants through an online system.
The H1B registration fee is $10 per applicant, which must be paid by the employer. H1B sponsors/employers must register the applicant for whom they intend to file an H1B petition by filling out basic information about the application.
- Legal Name of the H1B applicant (First, Middle, and Family Name)
- Gender of the applicant
- Date of Birth
- Country of Birth
- Country of Citizenship
- Passport Number
H1B LOTTERY RESULTS:
After submitting the H1B registrations through the online H1B registration system, the submissions will be granted the status “Submitted.” If your H1B registration was chosen in the lottery, the status will change to “Selected” when the lottery is completed. Employers will be alerted electronically if the registration status changes. There will be no physical notice forms delivered. If you are a candidate, you must inquire with your employer about the status of the H1B Lottery outcome.
The following are the several H1B Registration Statuses that are valid for the FY 2022 season, as well as what they signify for Lottery outcomes and selection:
Submitted: This status would be assigned to the H1B registration when it was submitted. If this status exists, it indicates that the registration is eligible for lottery selection.
Selected: This status would be assigned to the H1B registration when it was submitted. If this status exists, it indicates that the registration is eligible for lottery selection.
Not Selected: If the lottery results are finalized and lottery selection is no longer feasible, the registration will have this status. Typically, USCIS will accomplish this around the conclusion of the fiscal year, around February 2022.
Denied: If several registrations were submitted for the same application during registration, those applicants’ registrations would be marked as “Denied”.
Invalidated-Failed Payment: When a payment was declined or was not valid for whatever reason, the registrations would be marked as “Invalidated-failed payment”.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE LOTTERY SELECTION:
Once an employer gets a notification that the registration has been chosen for further processing, the company must file the H-1B petition with all supporting documentation within the time frame specified by the USCIS. The shipment will be delivered to a service center for approval or rejection. Each petition is then issued a tracking identification known as an EAC number.
The service center location handling your petition is indicated by the first three letters of your petition’s EAC number. The following two digits correspond to the year, followed by the working day. Your case number is shown by the final five numerals.
H1B VISA PROCESS 2022:
The H1B lottery was altered in 2019, according to a judgment announced in 2019.This Electronic Pre-Registration must be completed within a certain time frame and before the draw. In this situation, all candidates who want to participate in the lottery must first register on the website and then pre-register.
At that time, you will be required to pay a cost of US $ 10.00 per applying professional and submit information about the firm and the Beneficiary. If the professional is eventually selected after the lottery, which takes place in March, employers from the selected registries will then submit their petitions to USCIS for processing, along with the appropriate registration fees and supporting documentation, within 90 days or according to the deadlines established by USCIS. If the petition is accepted, the H-1B visa will be awarded, and the beneficiary will begin work on October 1 of the same year.
Furthermore, it is likely that in the second semester, before October 1st, professionals who were not previously chosen in the draw will be chosen to replace individuals who were previously chosen but had their petition dismissed or did not file their visa application.
USCIS believes that the new electronic pre-registration system for the H1B lottery will lower overall costs for petitioners and USCIS, while also reducing the administrative burden for the agency, which previously would have handled physical packages containing thousands of petitions that could not be selected or analyzed.
Furthermore, during the Electronic Pre-Registration, each sponsoring organization may send just one registration per professional.
If a single sponsor provides several registrations for the same beneficiary, all records supplied by that firm for this professional will be deemed illegitimate and refused. The odds of fraud are reduced in this manner.
To summarize, the application procedure for the H1B visa has begun in two stages: the Electronic Pre-Registration phase and the post-draw or lottery phase. The visa, in general, is valid for a maximum of three years, albeit this is at the discretion of the immigration officer who will review the petition. Furthermore, family members of individuals with an H1B visa may join them with H4 status.
H-1B Visa 2022:
The H1B Visa is designed for foreign professionals, particularly for a specialized workforce that is hard to come by in the United States, notably, graduates with exceptionally specific industrial experience. To be eligible for an H1B visa, a professional must have the necessary training and skills to apply their knowledge theoretically and practically in the offered position, as well as a bachelor’s degree or higher-level diploma related to the activities to be developed in this position, so that the Labor Department understands that this professional is capable of performing the activities described.
During the visa application process, it is critical to show that the foreigner’s intended position was offered to professionals in the United States, but that these individuals lacked the necessary qualifications to do the job. It should be noted that before USCIS, the visa application must be sponsored by an American company.
The overall number of H1B visas available each fiscal year is limited to 85,000, with 20,000 reserved for people who have completed a master’s or doctorate degree in the United States.
H1B PETITION:
A cap-exempt petition is one that has already been counted against the cap. It might also be one utilized to extend or modify the terms of an H1B worker’s stay in the United States. It’s worth mentioning that some posts with qualified candidates are excluded from the yearly quota. Even though the petitioner has already been counted against it.
However, three major occupational groups are excluded from the limit from the start:
- Positions with non-profit organization associated with a higher education institution
- Positions with a higher education institution
- Positions with government research facility
The availability of cap-exempt jobs may encourage people to assume that. They can simply apply for a cap-exempt job and then switch after they’ve arrived in the nation to escape the yearly cap.
It’s important to remember, too, that if you move employment. You’ll need to have your new employer file a fresh petition. The petition will be entered into a lottery if the employer is not exempt from the cap. If this transfer isn’t chosen or isn’t authorized, you won’t be able to make it. As a result, avoiding the H-1B cap by switching from a cap-exempt to a cap-subject petition isn’t a possibility.
REACH OUT TO US FOR MORE DETAILS:
https://bayareaimmigrationservices.com/service/h-1b-visa/