USCIS Completes Initial FY2022 H-1B Cap Electronic Registration Selection Process

On Tuesday, March 30th, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it has completed the initial random selection process (“lottery”) of the FY2022 H-1B cap registrations submitted online earlier this month. The USCIS has notified petitioners and legal representatives of selected registrations. While the USCIS received more electronic registrations than available new H-1B visas for FY2022, registrations not selected in the initial lottery will be held in reserve. The reserve registrations may be drawn upon later in a second lottery, sometime prior to October 1st, if the numbers selected initially are determined insufficient to fill the cap limits. The USCIS has not officially announced the number of registrations submitted in this year’s lottery. However, based on our own figures, it appears that the USCIS may have received the highest number of lottery submissions this year compared to previous years -- consequently, the overall rate of selection was much lower this year, averaging around 30%. We will notify employers and their H-1B registrants of any updates on lottery selection results.