On January 30, 2024, USCIS announced a new rule for the upcoming FY 2025 H-1B CAP registration season. The rule focuses primarily on improving the integrity of the H-1B registration process to reduce the possibility of manipulating the system and to ensure all registrants have an equal chance of being selected in the H-1B lottery. This rule is a part of a larger USCIS plan to modernize the H-1B visa process.
How will the changes to the H-1B registration impact you?
One major change of the rule is how USCIS treats those who submit multiple registrations for the H-1B lottery under different employers. Previously, each registration submitted by a different employer counted as a separate entry into the lottery. So, if someone had 20 different submissions, they would have 20 chances to be selected in the lottery.
Under the new system, regardless of how many employers submit a registration on your behalf, they will all collectively count as one registration. USCIS now ties your personal identifying information like your passport number to your application, allowing them to combine registrations from different employers into one unified entry into the lottery.
With this change, the allure of having multiple employers submit registrations on your behalf is dulled because it does not increase your chances in the lottery. Yet, having multiple registrations does still provide flexibility. If you registered with multiple employers and are selected in the lottery, you have the flexibility to choose which employer you want to move forward with to submit the H-1B petition.
USCIS hopes this change will ensure each registrant in the lottery has truly equal chances of being selected. To prevent future misuse, USCIS has also codified its authority to deny H-1B petitions or revoke approved H-1B petitions that have false or unexplained changes in personal identifying information between the H-1B registration and the actual H-1B petition.
Contact us for assistance with all aspects of your H-1B process: info@grossmanyoung.com | 301.917.6900
