H1B 2023 Registration starts on March 1st, Timeline, Process (2024)

USCIS made a press release today stating that they would accept H1B Registrations for the next fiscal year ( FY 2023) starting from March 1st. In this article, we will outline the summary of the details and what changed, what is the same as last year, what are the timelines, and what to expect.

Before we jump into the news details, let’s look at the background and give you some insights.

Background of H1B Visa Registration, Lottery

H1B Registration is a simple online H1B applicant registration process, where employers submit the applicant details for whom they intend to file H1B. The simple online form avoids a lot of paperwork for all parties and costs only $10 per applicant in the initial step. You can read full details at What is H1B Registration Process?

USCIS introduced the concept of H1B Registration for the last two seasons. There were 308,613 registrations filed for FY 2022 and 275,000 registrations filed for FY 2021. When USCIS receives more registrations than the quota cap of 85,000 they would run a lottery on the overall pool of registrations. Hence the term H1B Lottery. It is nothing but a random selection process to pick the applicants who can file to fill the H1B cap of 85,000. You can read more at What is H1B Lottery, How it works?

You can also read COMPLETE Guide to H1B Visa, Fee, Process, Quota

Now that you have an understanding of the basics, let’s dive into the details of H1B Visa 2023 details as shared by USCIS.

H1B Visa 2023 Registration Dates

As per USCIS, the initial registration period for the H1B visa Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 quota cap would be as follows

• H1B Registration Start Date : March 1st, 2022, 12 Noon EST
• H1B Registration End Date : March 18th, 2022, 12 Noon EST

Employers, attorneys, and representatives of companies can complete the H1B Registrations during the above mentioned period using the USCIS H1B Online Registration System

How will H1B Registration Process work for FY 2023 ?

The process of H1B Registration and lottery is no different from previous years. Below are the steps

• Step 1 – Create USCIS Account : Employers, Attorney or Representatives register their myUSCIS accounts with their company related details. They will be able to do this starting from Feb 21st, 2022, Noon EST.
• Step 2 – Submit H1B Registration : Starting from March 1st, H1B registrations for the applicatnts can be created by the employers, attorney or represenatives in the USCIS online H1B Registration System. It is nothing but a simple form and asks for the below details of the H1B Applicant.
  • Legal Name of the H1B applicant – First, Middle and Family Name
  • Gender of the applicant
  • Option to select, if the applicant is eligible for US Masters H1B Quota
  • Date of Birth
  • Country of Birth
  • Country of Citizenship
  • Passport Number ( There is option to check, if there is no passport number too )
• Step 3 – USCIS Online System Process : As each of the registrations are submitted, USCIS will assign a confirmation number for each of the submitted registrations. This is only used for their tracking and cannot be used by applicants to check status online. USCIS online system will continue to do this until March 18th, 2022.
• Step 4 – H1B Lottery, Selection Notifications : If there are more than 85,000 registrations submitted, USCIS will run H1B lottery / random selection to select registrations and notify the selected account holders by March 31st, 2022.
• Step 5 – File H1B Petition : If you got selected and were notified, you will be able to download the H1B Registration Selection Notice and using that you can submit full H1B Petition with USCIS within 90 days.

If you have submitted H1B Registration for H1B FY 2023 season, please add your case to H1B Visa 2023 Case Tracker for community benefit. It is anonymous and used to track macro trends and helps everyone.

H1B Visa 2023 Timeline

Below is a short summary of the overall timeline

• H1B Registrant Accounts Creation : Starting from Feb 21st, 2022. Noon EST
• H1B Registration Start Date : Can submit registrations from March 1st, 2022, Noon EST
• H1B Registration End Date : Last date to submit registration is March 18th, 2022, Noon EST
• H1B Lottery Results : First round H1B Lottery results will be out by March 31st, 2022.
• USCIS H1B Petition Filing : Selected applicants get 90 days to file petition from April 1st, until June 30th, 2022.

The USCIS press release is no different from previous years and there is nothing new for this year. Everything will be similar to the previous year. There were some questions in the past about introducing wage levels for H1B lottery selection. USCIS withdrew the H1B Lottery with Wage levels rule as they lost the case in court. We expect a lot of H1B registrations to be filed similar to the previous year, stay tuned for our H1B lottery predictions article.

What do you think of the USCIS press release for FY 2023 H1B Season ?