H-1B visa registration for fiscal year 2023 from March 1 to 18: Details here

The department said if enough registrations are received by March 18, then it will randomly select registrations and send selection notifications via users’ myUSCIS online accounts by March 31.

The initial registrations for H-1B visas for the fiscal year 2023 will open on March 1 and will go on till March 23. In a press release, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said during this period, prospective petitioners and representatives will be able to complete and submit their registrations using the online H-1B registration system. H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa with many Indian takers for this visa programme. US companies can hire Indians through this visa programme. In a financial year, which starts in October in the US, 65,000 H-1B visas are issued while 20,000 visas are kept reserved for US Masters' degree holders.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations  (Representational Image)

Amazon, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Cognizant were the top recipients of H-1B visas in the fiscal year 2021.

Here is all you need to know about the initial registration process

1. After the registration, the immigration department will assign a confirmation number to track registrations. This number is not for applicants to track the status of the registrations.

2. Prospective H-1B cap-subject petitioners or their representatives are required to use a myUSCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated $10 H-1B registration fee for each registration submitted on behalf of each beneficiary.

3. Prospective petitioners submitting their own registrations (U.S. employers and U.S. agents, collectively known as “registrants”) will use a “registrant” account. Registrants will be able to create new accounts beginning at noon Eastern on Feb. 21.

4. The department said if enough registrations are received by March 18, then it will randomly select registrations and send selection notifications via users’ myUSCIS online accounts.

In December 2021, the US waived the in-person interview requirement for H-1B visa applicants given the pandemic situation.

In 2021, the number of H-1B visas dropped the most in a decade, according to analysts. US employers’ preliminary applications submitted for engineering and mathematics jobs under the H-1B visa program fell 12.6% in the fiscal year ending September 2021 compared to the previous year, a Bloomberg News analysis said. The drop was attributed to the slow visa processing during lockown and also to the rising popularity of Canada visas among Indians.