FY 2025 H-1B Cap Initial Selection Process Completed

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on April 1, 2024 that it has received enough electronic registrations during the initial registration period to reach the fiscal year (FY) 2025 H-1B numerical allocations (H-1B cap). A random selection (lottery) was conducted from the registrations submitted from March 6, 2024 to March 25, 2024. H-1B cap-subject petitions for FY 2025 may be filed with USCIS for selected registrations during a 90-day window beginning April 1, 2024.

USCIS has issued Selection Notices in the accounts of employers with selected registrations, thereby notifying prospective petitioners that they are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for the beneficiary named on the Selection Notice. Registrants’ online accounts will now show one of the following statuses for each registration:

• Selected: Selected to file an H-1B cap petition within the 90-day filing period beginning April 1, 2024.

• Submitted: The registration has been submitted and is eligible for selection. 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 change to Selected, Not Selected, or Denied. If petitions are not filed for selected beneficiaries with the designated 90-day filing window, USCIS may conduct another lottery from the reserve “submitted’ registrations until the FY 2025 cap is reached. This was the case last year, when numerous “submitted” registrations were later selected for a second round of filings, after the initial 90-day filing period concluded.

• 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.
• Invalidated – failed payment: A registration was submitted but the payment method was declined, not reconciled, or otherwise invalid.
• Deleted: The submitted registration has been deleted and is no longer eligible for selection.

H-1B cap-subject petitions for FY 2025 may be filed with USCIS during the 90-day window beginning April 1, 2024, if based on a valid selected registration.  Only petitioners with selected registrations may file H-1B cap-subject petitions for FY 2025, and only for the beneficiary named in the applicable selected registration notice.  Petitioners filing H-1B cap-subject petitions must still establish eligibility for petition approval at the time the petition is filed and through adjudication, based on existing statutory and regulatory requirements.

McCown & Evans will continue to follow updates on the H-1B cap process and will be working with clients to file H-1B petitions for selected registrants during the designated filing window. Please contact your attorney at McCown & Evans with any questions.