New H-1B lottery preregistration process underway ahead of March 20 deadline

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has finally issued information about its new registration process for the 2020 H-1B cap lottery. The process must be completed by noon on March 20, and it'll take some effort to accomplish, so it's time to get started now.

Preregistration deadline is March 20

Preregistration for the H-1B lottery started on February 24, the first day the new USCIS system was active for employers to begin entering information. After starting the process, you can save the information and return later to finish and then submit the materials.

Preregistrations can be submitted from noon on March 1 to noon on March 20. So, you can start working on the process in February, but you can't complete it until the afternoon of March 1 at the earliest. To get started, go to http://bit.ly/2TaFUVp. 

How preregistration works

Employers preregistering themselves. You must create an employer account and enter your information into the USCIS system. If you're preparing H-1Bs in-house, you must complete the process by noon on March 20 by submitting the registration and paying a $10 fee at www.pay.gov.

Employers relying on outside counsel. If you're working with outside immigration counsel, the attorney must create a separate attorney account, and the employer and the attorney accounts must link up in the USCIS system before the lawyer can submit your preregistration(s) and pay the fee.