Initial FY 2025 H-1B Cap Selection Process Completed

On April 1 , 2024, USCIS announced that it received enough electronic registrations during the initial registration period to reach the fiscal year (FY) 2025 H-1B cap. A random selection (lottery) was conducted from the registrations properly submitted from March 6, 2024 through March 25, 2024. H-1B petitions may be filed for selected registrations starting April 1, 2024.

WHAT EMPLOYERS CAN EXPECT

USCIS has notified all prospective petitioners with selected registrations that they are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for the beneficiary named in the selected registration during the 90-day period designated on the selection notice. Registrants’ online accounts will now be updated to show one of the following statuses for each beneficiary registered:

• Submitted: A registration status may continue to show “Submitted” after the initial selection process. These registrations will remain in consideration for selection until the end of the fiscal year, at which point all registration statuses will either be Selected, Not Selected, or Denied. If a sufficient number of petitions are not filed and approved for selected beneficiaries with the initial 90-day filing window, USCIS may conduct another lottery from the reserve of “submitted’ registrations until the FY 2025 cap is reached.
• Selected: Indicates that the employer may file an FY 2025 H-1B cap-subject petition for the beneficiary in the designated 90-day filing period.
• Not Selected: Not eligible to file an H-1B cap petition based on this registration.
• Denied – duplicate registration: Multiple registrations were submitted by or on behalf of the same registrant for the same beneficiary. If denied as a duplicate registration, all registrations submitted by or on behalf of the same registrant for this beneficiary for the fiscal year are invalid.
• Deleted: The submitted registration has been deleted and is no longer eligible for selection.
• Invalidated-Failed Payment: A registration payment method was declined and not reconciled, invalidating the registration.

Only petitioners with selected registrations may file H-1B cap-subject petitions for FY 2025 and only for the beneficiary in the applicable selected registration notice. Petitioners must submit evidence of the beneficiary’s valid passport or travel document used at the time of registration to identify the beneficiary.  Employers have a 90-day window during which to file the complete H-1B petition, commencing April 1, 2024.

NEW THIS YEAR:  CHANGE TO FILING LOCATIONS, FORMS, AND FEES

Beginning on April 1, 2024, all paper-filed Form I-129 petitions requesting  H-1B classification, including those with a concurrent Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, and those with concurrently filed Form I-539 and/or Form I-765, must be filed at a USCIS lockbox facility.  USCIS will also accept online filings of I-129H petitions filed alone or with a request for premium processing service

The new version of paper Form I-129 (dated April 1, 2024) is required as of April 1, 2024. Petitions submitted with an older version of the form will be rejected.

The filing fee for H-1B petitions increased substantially effective April 1.  The H-1B cap filing fees for companies with more than 25 employees now total $3,380 (includes base I-129 fee of $780; ACWIA fee of $1,500; anti-fraud fee of $500; and new asylum program fee of $600.)  Non-profit organizations and employers with 25 or fewer employees will pay reduced fees. The premium processing (Form I-907) fee also increased to $2,805 on February 26, 2024. Additional information about USCIS filing fee increases may be found here.

Information about the cap registration process is available at the USCIS H-1B Electronic Registration website.  For additional information please contact your designated Gibney representative or email info@gibney.com.