Last week, the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) said that the initial registrations for the H-1B visas would start on March 1 and remain open until March 18, 2022, for the year ending October 2022.
During the said period, prospective petitioners and representatives will complete and submit their registration using the online H-1B visa registration system.
As a part of the process, USCIS will assign a confirmation number to every successful registration for the FY 2023 H-1B cap, which further can be used for tracking.
Under the new system USCIS now follows, applicants will register electronically and pay 10 USD as a registration fee.
Every year, the agency issues 65000 new H-1B visas, with another 20000 reserved for US master’s degree holders.
The biggest beneficiaries of the visa program are Indians, receiving 70 percent of the new visas issued each year.
The USCIS has had to conduct multiple lotteries to allocate all the visas in the last few years as it did not receive enough applications following the initial selection process. It was caused by several factors, including reduced travel and mobility due to the pandemic.
