USCIS announces the online H-1B petition filing period and the initial registration period for the FY 2025 H-1B quota

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) unveiled measures on Tuesday to fortify the integrity of and diminish the potential for fraud in the H-1B work permit registration process.

This includes mitigating the likelihood of manipulating the registration system and ensuring each beneficiary possesses an equal opportunity for selection, irrespective of the volume of registrations submitted on their behalf. Notably, individuals of Indian origin constitute the largest contingent of annual H-1B applicants. USCIS also disclosed the commencement dates for the initial registration period for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 H-1B cap, along with the introduction of an online filing option for Form I-129, a petition for non-immigration workers, and Form I-907, a request for premium processing for H-1B petitioners.

“We perpetually seek avenues to fortify integrity, curbing the potential for fraud, while enhancing and streamlining our application processes,” asserted USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou in the official proclamation. The enhancements in these domains aim to render H-1B selections more just for both petitioners and beneficiaries, facilitating a fully electronic H-1B process from registration, if applicable, to the ultimate decision and the transmission of sanctioned petitions to the Department of State.”

This ultimate regulation for H1-B registration encompasses provisions that will institute a beneficiary-centric selection process for registrations by employers, formalize commencement date flexibility for specific petitions falling under the congressionally mandated H-1B cap, and introduce additional integrity measures related to the registration process.

Under the beneficiary-centric process, registrations will be chosen based on unique beneficiaries rather than registrations. This innovative approach is crafted to diminish the likelihood of fraud and ensure an equal chance of selection for each beneficiary, regardless of the number of registrations submitted by an employer on their behalf. Beginning with the FY 2025 initial registration period, USCIS will mandate registrants to furnish valid passport information or valid travel document details for each beneficiary. The provided passport or travel document should align with the one the beneficiary intends to utilize when entering the United States, granted an H-1B visa. Each beneficiary must be registered under only one passport or travel document.

USCIS is also elucidating requisites concerning the requested employment start date on specific petitions subject to the congressionally mandated H-1B cap, allowing filings with requested start dates beyond October 1 of the relevant fiscal year, in accordance with existing policy.

Moreover, the H-1B ultimate rule institutionalizes USCIS’ authority to reject or rescind H-1B petitions if the underlying registration includes a false attestation or is otherwise invalid. Under the new rule, USCIS holds the prerogative to deny or withdraw the approval of an H-1B petition if it ascertains that the registration-associated fee is declined, not reconciled, contested, or otherwise invalid after submission.

USCIS has also disclosed the final rule on the fee schedule, slated to take effect after the initial registration period for the FY 2025 H-1B cap.

FY 2025 H-1B Cap Initial Registration Period: The inaugural registration period for the FY 2025 H-1B cap will commence on March 6, 2024, and conclude on March 22, 2024. On February 28, USCIS will inaugurate online filing of Form I-129 and its affiliated Form I-907 for non-cap H-1B petitions. On April 1, USCIS will commence accepting online filings for H-1B cap petitions and associated Forms I-907 for petitioners whose registrations have been selected. USCIS has recently declared an escalation in the filing fee for Form I-907, to account for inflation, effective February 26, 2024.