USCIS has made it official: All companies must register between March 1st and March 20th for the H-1b cap season lottery. Registration will require basic information about the company sponsor and the beneficiary, an attestation of intent to file, and a $10 registration fee. USCIS will conduct the lottery based on this registration and lottery winners will have 90 days to submit their H-1b applications.

How does this change affect my business?

This year it will be easier and cheaper to enter the H-1b lottery.

We expect that there will be many more participants in this year's H-1b lottery. The chances of any specific beneficiary winning the lottery will be lower than in prior years. Developing a good contingency plan with your attorney is critical. Your candidate may be eligible for another visa or it may make sense to start the green card process early.

You can take advantage of the lower bar to entry and register more candidates than you may have before. If a security software engineer is a critical position, consider submitting registrations for multiple beneficiaries. Remember that a beneficiary can have multiple candidate petitions. So, if there is a highly desirable candidate with multiple offers, it is worth seeing if your company's registration can be the one to win that lottery slot for them.

Join us on January 15th at 9 am for a free webinar with attorney expert Isabelle Hurtubise to prepare for the 2020 H-1b cap season. Hurtubise Weber Law specializes in employment visas and business immigration for small and early stage companies.

Need help with your H-1b application? Contact us at theteam@huwelaw.com or 415-413-8760 today.