The Best Feature of H1B Visa Pre-Registration Tool is the Reserve Pool (+ 5 FAQ’s)

Dear H1B Visa Applicant:

Welcome to Part 1 of Frequently Asked Questions and Answers about the brand new H1B Visa Pre-Registration Tool and new H1B Visa Lottery process.

If you or your employer is going to apply for your H1B Visa for the upcoming Fiscal Year FY 2021 or later, then you should know about the H1B Visa Pre-Registration Tool.

First, read Part 1 of this article:

1. 11 FAQs about the H1B Visa Registration Tool (Part 1)
2. Sneak Peek into H1B Visa Registration Tool with Screenshots
3. H1B Visa 2021 – Process, Timeline, and Lottery

And, then continue with this article, where you will find additional questions and answers.

And you can read Part 2 (this article) and then read Part 1.

1. Can the employer substitute the employee after selection in the lottery?

According to the text from the Proposed rule, employers will not be permitted to substitute the employees.

 

2. What happens if Employers Register multiple times for an employee?

It would be easy to prevent duplicate filing at the H1B Visa Registration tool level.

If the tool was not designed to check for duplicates, there could ( and should) be a way for USCIS to check for duplicate entries from the same employer in the backend or admin panel.

As per USCIS, if they find multiple registrations for the same employee, they would disqualify all the H1B Visa Registrations from that employer for that fiscal year.

If a petitioner violates the limitation with regard to registrations relating to H-1B beneficiaries, all of the registrations filed by the petitioner relating to that beneficiary for that fiscal year would be considered invalid.

Just let this feeling sink in for a second.

• If the tool allows Multiple H1B Visa registrations
• A BIG IT staffing company’s legal team (by mistake) entered the same applicant twice!
• And USCIS disqualifies all the entries!

Oh Boy!

I can remember a quote here – “One man’s loss is another man’s treasure” (just saying).

3. Reserver Pool – What happens if the petition is Denied, Withdrawn, or Revoked? Would that spot be used for another petition?

USCIS has stated that they will select additional reserve petitions, and the number of reserver petitions selected will vary based on that fiscal year’s forecast.

USCIS would create a reserve of registrations to pull from in the scenario that a sufficient number of selected registrants do not file petitions, and more registrations need to be added to the selected pool. USCIS is also proposing that it could re-open the registration period in the event the reserve of unselected registrations is insufficient to fill the H-1B cap projections for a given fiscal year.

For instance, if they plan to select 10% for reserve petition, they will be selecting 6,500 and 2,000 additional requests for Regular Cap and Advanced Degree Cap.

Now, this is AMAZING!

Even after the random lottery, there’s a probability for applicants to get a notification if some employer doesn’t end up filing for H1B Visa petition.

Plus, the H1B Visa Reserve will be there for the entire Fiscal Year.

This, I think is great news for H1B Visa applicant.

Some, H1B Visa applicant could get a notification as late as July or August from the Reserve H1B Visa petitions.

4. Who will get the notification of H1B Visa Lottery Selection, and how?

• Employer or the Authorized Representative  – Yes
• Employee (or beneficiary) – No
• Where can they see the result – Login into the H1B Registration Tool

If you are applying for H1B Visa via Registration tool, then this process should make it easy to know if you are selected in the lottery.

5. How long is the window to submit the petition after getting selected in the H1B Visa lottery?

• Proposed Filing Window – 60 Days
• Final Rule Window – 90 Days

Assuming the lottery happens on April 10th, Immigration Attorney would have until Mid-July to send the H1B Visa petitions and other supporting documents.

6. Is Certified LCA  from DOL required before Registering the H1B Visa applicant?

Nope! Nada!

Only the H1B Visa Petitions that are selected (& notified) are required to get certified LCA from DOL.

 

Summary of H1B Visa Pre-Registration Tool

• No substitute of applicants after selection
• All H1B petitions could be invalidated for duplicate entries
• Employees should get notification from employer or attorney
• LCA is not required to use the H1B Visa Pre-Registration tool

Related Articles – H1B Visa New Lottery Process

• • H1B Visa 2021 – Lottery, Process, and Timeline
  • Impact of New H1B Visa Lottery Order 
  • 11 FAQ’s About H1B Visa Registration Tool (Part 1)
  • Best Features of H1B Visa Tool (this article)
  • Sneak Peek into H1B Visa Registration Tool with Screenshots

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