H1B- Pre-Registration for FY 2024- Started off Smooth….and at the End, There are Some Bumps in the Road!
By
Dev B. Viswanath, Esq.
The process for fresh H1Bs in FY 2024 is fully underway and the lottery system will be based on cases selected through Pre-registration, started on March 1st at noon eastern time and was et to expire/end on March 17th at noon eastern time. That would have ended all fresh cap subject H1B submissions for the fiscal year 2024, which begins on October 1st 2023. HOWEVER, that deadline has changed slightly, with USCIS announcing they will offer an extension for pre-registration submissions.
Hundreds of attorneys noticed that the pay.gov website for taking the $10 payments for each H1B pre-registration began to crash and companies, lawyers, paralegals, and individual H1B potential recipients found themselves flabbergasted at the several hours spent trying to make a submission to the government to complete registration on the 2nd to last day of registration.
Luckily, our immigration bar association (AILA- American Immigration Lawyers Association), has been very helpful in tracking progress and issues and was instrumental in engaging USCIS to explain the problems that were occurring. Those cries and woes were heard and acknowledged by the agency, thankfully and USCIS announced and extension.
The USCIS just announced
Therefore, there is hope and folks just need to stay tuned. If you are someone you know has been struggling with registering H1Bs and been held back because of this payment issue, USCIS is aware of the problem and will extend the courtesy of filing once they can fix the issue.
Once the issue is resolved and a new deadline is fixed, everyone interested must jump on board to get their registration in as soon as possible, because the system will close out again and that will be that. The expectation is that first round picks will be on April 1st, and those picked, will have 90 days to get their H1B applications in. everyone else will be held in a waitlist cue, until 2nd round picks, expected around July 2023. If you or a friend, have any issues or concerns about H1B pre-registration, please contact an experienced immigration attorney at the earliest.