WASHINGTON, Jan 30: The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has
announced that the initial registration for the H-1B visas for the year 2023
will begin on March 1 and end on March 18, 2022.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows foreign professionals in
special fields (“speciality occupation”) to work in the US upon being appointed
by American companies, initially for three years. The applicant's employer must
submit an H-1B petition to the USCIS.
Tens of thousands of employees are recruited every year mainly from India and
China. The annual cap for H-1B visa is 65,000. Another lot of 20,000 visas are
also available for STEM subjects students qualifying from US universities. The
STEM subjects are Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
The USCIS has asked the candidates and their representatives to submit their
registrations online at its H-1B registration system. The fee for an H-1B registration
is $10. They need to open a myUSCIS online account. New registrant accounts
can be created from February 21. However, registration and fee payment can be
done only from March 1.
An H-1B cap-subject petition need be filed only if a beneficiary is selected.
The result of the random selection will be notified to account holders by March
31, a USCIS release said on Friday.
"In 2020 we implemented an electronic registration process for H-1B cap...
It has streamlined processing by reducing paperwork and data exchange and provided
cost savings to employers filing petitions," a USCIS statement says.
