By Jessica Suotmaa 0

The H1-B nonimmigration worker application process for each fiscal year (FY), which starts on October 1 of the previous year (FY2022 begins October 1, 2021), consists of registration, a petition, followed by approval. The “Petitioner” is the sponsoring employer company. The “Beneficiary” is the employee.

First, the Petitioner must register with USCIS during the registration period for each beneficiary for whom Petitioner wishes to petition for an H1-B nonimmigrant worker visa. If a registration is accepted for a specific Petitioner and Beneficiary, then the Petitioner may file an H1-B petition on behalf of that Beneficiary.

The period for registration for 2021 petitions for the FY2022 (which begins on October 2021) is March 9, 9:00 a.m. PST to March 25, 9:00 a.m. PST. A separate registration must be completed for each beneficiary for whom a petitioner may apply.

Registrations will then be randomly selected by USCIS between March 25 and March 31. Those H1-B petitioner/beneficiary registrations selected will then be allowed to file their H1-B petition starting April 1, 2021 for the FY2022.

Once the petition is filed, the petition will be examined. Generally cases are decided before October 1, if not earlier.

If you need assistance with your H1-B petition, our office, with over 40 years of experience preparing all types of business and family immigration applications, can help you through the process. We encourage petitioners and beneficiary who have not already started putting together information for registration start to do so before the first day of registration on March.