Featured Issue: FY2024 Cap-Subject H-1B Filing Season

This featured issue page tracks developments related to the FY2024 H-1B cap season. USCIS's initial registration period for the FY2024 H-1B cap will open at 12:00 noon (ET) on 3/1/23 and run through 12:00 noon (ET) on 3/17/23.

Note: USCIS has corrected this technical issue and will now accept registrations until 5:00 pm (ET) on Monday, March 20, 2023.

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March 17, 2023, at 10:00 am (ET)

USCIS announced that it will accept H-1B registrations until 5:00 pm (ET) on Monday, March 20.

USCIS posted on its website, the following message: On Thursday, March 16, 2023, some users were not able to complete the H-1B registration process. USCIS has corrected this technical issue and will now accept registrations until 5:00 p.m. Eastern on Monday, March 20, 2023. Please note that any paid and completed registrations were not affected by this technical issue.

USCIS message

  • Update via Twitter as of 7:00 pm (ET)
USCIS message

USCIS stated:

"Currently, some users are not able to complete the H-1B registration process. We apologize for any inconvenience & are working to fix the issue. We will extend the registration deadline. Stay tuned for more details."

  • Update: 6:45 pm (ET)

Following mass reports on issues with Pay.gov for H-1B registrations, USCIS has issued official communication on the USCIS website. AILA has requested that any extension issued be in business days. We will continue to provide updates as they become available.

USCIS posted the following update on their website

USCIS message

  • Update: 5:00 pm (ET)

AILA National is aware that members are experiencing issues with the Pay.gov system while attempting to complete H-1B registrations. USCIS is also aware of the issue, and they are working to resolve it at this time.

USCIS requests that reports be sent directly to them at USCISFeedback@uscis.dhs.gov, with a visible URL of the issue. AILA kindly requests that reports@aila.org be copied in your reports to USCIS so we can monitor the issue on our end.

Please note that as we are less than 24 hours away from H-1B registration deadline, there may be system overloads that cause the government websites to crash during the next few hours. At this juncture, AILA recommends that any H-1B registration system-related issue be reported directly to USCISFeedback@uscis.dhs.gov with a copy to reports@aila.org.


FY2024 H-1B Cap Season: How to Prepare in Light of Lessons Learned

The expert panelists for this intermediate seminar will discuss the lottery system and address other general issues of filing FY2024 cap-subject cases based on the current landscape for H-1Bs, including updated SOC categories and wages.

Download Recording Now

Cap-Subject H-1B Filing Tips and Resources for FY2024

Join members of AILA’s USCIS Case Assistance Committee and HQ Benefits Committee on March 31 as they provide a review of some of the best filing tips and resources that may be useful for the FY2024 filing season and beyond.

Register for Free Roundtable

Resources and Information for the FY2024 H-1B Cap Filing Season

AILA Resources | Government Announcements

AILA Resources – Check Back Regularly for New Resources!

Government Announcements

Additional AILA and government resources from the FY2023, FY2022, and FY2021 H-1B cap filing seasons, which members may find useful for the current filing season, may be found in the expandable sections below.


Resources and Information for the FY2023 H-1B Cap Filing Season

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AILA Resources | Government Announcements

AILA Resources – Check Back Regularly for New Resources!

Government Announcements


Resources and Information for the FY2022 H-1B Cap Filing Season

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AILA Resources | Government Announcements

AILA Resources

Government Announcements

Create a myUSCIS account with this step-by-step how to by AILA’s Practice & Professionalism Center. (It addresses what two-factor authentication options are and which to choose, too.) USCIS released videos in 2020 with instructions on how to create a myUSCIS account and the electronic registration process for registrants as well as attorneys and representatives. These videos can be helpful for purposes of preparing for the FY2022 registration process.


How to Create a USCIS Online Account

H-1B Electronic Registration Process: Registrants

H-1B Electronic Registration Process:
Attorneys and Representatives


Resources and Information from the FY2021 H-1B Cap Filing Season

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Per USCIS:

We will open an initial registration period from March 1 through March 20, 2020, for the FY 2021 H-1B numerical allocations.

  • During this timeframe, H-1B cap-subject petitioners, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, seeking to file a FY 2021 H-1B cap petition will be required to first register electronically with USCIS and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee for each submission.
  • Prospective petitioners or their authorized representatives must electronically submit a separate registration naming each alien for whom they seek to file an H-1B cap-subject petition. Duplicate registrations are prohibited.
  • As described in the H-1B registration final rule, if more than a sufficient number of registrations are received, we will randomly select the number of registrations projected as needed to reach the FY 2021 H-1B numerical allocations after the initial registration period closes and notify registrants with selected registrations no later than March 31, 2020.
  • Prospective petitioners with selected registrations will be eligible to file a FY 2021 cap-subject petition only for the alien named in the registration and within the filing period indicated on the eligibility notice.

We will not consider a cap-subject H-1B petition to be properly filed unless it is based on a valid, selected registration for the same beneficiary and the appropriate fiscal year, unless the registration requirement is suspended. Additionally, although petitioners can register multiple aliens during a single online submission, a petitioner may only submit one registration per beneficiary in any fiscal year. If a petitioner submits more than one registration per beneficiary in the same fiscal year, all registrations filed by that petitioner relating to that beneficiary for that fiscal year will be considered invalid.

On February 5, 2020, USCIS released the following information about registration selection notifications:

USCIS intends to notify registrants and their representatives with selected registrations via their USCIS online accounts no later than March 31, 2020.

A registrant’s USCIS online account will show one of the four following statuses for each registration:

  • Submitted: A registration status may continue to show “Submitted” after the initial selection process has been completed. "Submitted" registrations will remain in consideration for selection until the end of the fiscal year, at which point all registration statuses will be Selected, Not Selected or Denied.
  • Selected: Selected to file an FY 2021 H-1B cap-subject petition.
  • Not Selected: Not selected for this fiscal year.
    • Please note that a registration will not reflect a status of Not Selected until the conclusion of the fiscal year. In the event that USCIS determines that it needs to increase the number of registrations projected to meet the H-1B regular cap or the advanced degree exemption allocation, USCIS will select from registrations held in reserve to meet the H-1B regular cap or advanced degree exemption allocation.
  • Denied: The same registrant or representative submitted more than one registration on the beneficiary’s behalf for the same fiscal year. All registrations the registrant or representative submitted on behalf of the same beneficiary for the same fiscal year are invalid.

H-1B cap-subject beneficiaries, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, must have a “Selected” registration notification in order for a registrant or representative to properly file an H-1B cap-subject petition for FY 2021. Registrants and representatives will not be notified until the end of the fiscal year if they are not selected. The status of registrations not selected as part of any initial random selection process and not denied will remain as “Submitted.”

AILA Resources | AILA Resources on Setting Up an H-1B Registration Account | Government Resources | AILA Comments and Communication with USCIS | Media Reports

AILA Resources

Cite as AILA Doc. No. 19102407.