H1B Registration For 2022 Has Started: Last Date, How To Apply, Deadlines & More

With Biden as the new President of the United States, the sentiments of Indian jobseekers in the US markets have spiralled up, especially the H-1B visa holders.

Indian IT professionals and companies rely heavily on this visa status. In the quarter ending September 2020, the H-1B denial rate fell to 1.5%, from 15% in the same quarter last year. The rejection rate for the preceding quarters of this year was as high as 58%.

The electronic filing of new registrations for the US H-1B visa (FY 2022) starts today, March 9, 2021.

The Biden administration is still conducting discussions on the implementation of the ‘wage-based selection of H-1B petitions’ proposed by the Trump government in 2020.

Consequently, the selection of candidates this year will be conducted based upon the lottery system.

Here is everything you need to know about the fresh registrations of H-1B visas starting today.

US H-1B Visa Registrations Start Today
The window for electronic filing of fresh US H-1B visa for FY22 starts today on March 9, 2021, until March 25.

The selection will be conducted based upon the lottery system and all the selected candidates will be informed on March 31, post which they can start filing their applications from April 1, 2021.

On October 28, 2020, the Trump government proposed a new rule for visa selections, as per which applicants were to be granted visa petitions based upon their salary levels.

This would give an advantage to applicants with higher salaries, as compared to freshers and those with fewer years of experience.

The current registrations however, will be conducted through the lottery system, as the Biden administration is still reviewing the wage based system.

Second Lottery Conducted in 2020
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issues 85,000 new H-1B visas each year, of which Indians and Indian IT firms are among the major beneficiaries.

Every year, the petitions exceed the 85,000 limit, after which the USCIS uses the lottery selection process.

However, in 2020 the agency had to conduct a second round of lottery, as they did not meet the 85,000 petition target.

Moneycontrol states this event to occur due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the stringent restrictions set by the US government on IT companies all around the globe.

In addition, with the ‘work from home’ gaining traction, IT companies and businesses might repeat a similar trend in the upcoming year too.