The US Citizenship and Immigration Services agency announced on January 9, that the initial H-1B petition registration period will be from March 1 to March 20, 2020, and that USCIS expects to notify employers whose registrations have been selected no later than March 31, 2020. The agency also provided new information about the H-1B cap-subject petition registration process.  

Petitioners must register using an online account. As of this writing, USCIS has not provided any details regarding the registration portal or ways to register an account, but has indicated that it will post the date employers may start setting up accounts on its website. 

Petitioners must electronically submit a separate registration request for each individual it seeks to petition for a cap-subject H-1B. No more than one registration may be submitted for the same individual by the same petitioner, or all registrations for that individual will be disregarded. 

USCIS will deliver lottery results by sending notices electronically and inform petitioners to file an H-1B cap-subject petition on behalf of the named individual within the filing period indicated on the notice. The notifications will be added to the registration accounts, and the account holders will receive notification via email or text message stating that an action has been added to their account. 

Petitioners should start the preparation process now by evaluating potential H-1B candidates to make sure that they are qualified to receive the visa if selected. Please contact your Dentons lawyer if you have any questions. 

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