U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced this week that H-1B cap registration will open March 6.

Key Points:

• The registration window runs from noon EST on March 6 through noon EDT on March 22.
• During this time, petitioners can use their USCIS online accounts to register H-1B beneficiaries electronically.
• Petitioners must pay an associated registration fee for each beneficiary. Under a new regulation, the H-1B registration fee will increase from $10 to $215, though the higher rate will not be in effect for this year’s H-1B registration period.
• This year, USCIS is making online organizational accounts available for the first time. The agency hosted a “Tech Talk” session to answer questions about the organizational accounts today and will host additional sessions on Feb. 8, 13, 14 and 15.
• USCIS will also host a webinar on Feb. 21, from 2-3:30 p.m. EDT, to share FY 2025 H-1B electronic registration process updates and provide a step-by-step overview of the H-1B registration submission process and a Q &A session.

Additional Information: USCIS first announced the dates of the filing window in a press release about the new regulation that makes changes to the H-1B selection process. The agency has explicitly stated that changes to the H-1B selection process are designed to “bolster integrity and curtail the potential for fraud while improving and streamlining our application processes … [making] H-1B selections more equitable for petitioners and beneficiaries.” This change has the potential to reduce the overall number of registrations and boost H-1B selection rates for employers.