Hi, everybody. So, the H1B season is coming up, and we're going to talk about the new
H1B online registration system, all the stuff we know. So stay tuned, and I'll see you on
the other side. Hi, everybody. My name is Jacob Sapochnick and I'm an immigration attorney
based in San Diego, California. In this video, we're going to talk about the new H1B online
registration. That is going to be opening up very soon. We'll talk about all the details
that we know. But before that, if you're new to our channel, I encourage you to subscribe,
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So, let's talk about H1B. And as we know, the H1B filing season is coming up just like
every year. And this year, in 2020, it's going to be very different. So, it's the first time
in the history of this program that instead of actually allowing employers to file on
the 1st of April, like every year, and then wait for the filing date to close as the starting
lottery. This year, the filing date will be totally different. It's going to be an online
registration system where employers are going to have to register and that the online registration
system is going to open on March 1st. There's going to be a specific website which will
be announced by USCIS. And of course, we'll do another video to follow up on the new rules
once we know that but what we know as of now is that a new registration system is going
to open on March 1st. US employers are going to be registering before that and that registration
system is going to be open for 20 days from March 1st, 2020 to March 20, 2020. And during
this time, employers are going to be registering the employees that are going to be interested
in filing. And after the registration will be closed, then the USCIS will be selecting
those employees that will be eligible to file H1B visas, and then employers will have 90
days to file those cases. So, what do we know so far about this new online registration
system? So first, employers can file from March 1ST, register people that are going
to be working for them as prospective employees. Number two, these employers are going to be
notified by March 31st if they were selected. There's also a registration fee of $10 for
each application. Employers will receive a notice, as we said, by March 31st, if they
were selected. In that notice, they're also going to be notified that they have a window
of 90 days as to when to file their H1B petition. So, they're gonna have 90 days from the date
of the notice of selection to file H1B petitions for their employees. USCIS will also announce
a start date before March 1st when US employers can actually set up their accounts with the
government to be able to register and be able to file on March 1st. But before March 1st,
they'll announce when employers can actually set up their accounts, so stay tuned for that
as well. [inaudible] the USCIS intends to close the registration on March 20th, it is
unclear if they're going to extend that if they don't receive enough applications or
they feel that they can handle more, so stay tuned for more notices as to when registration
will be extended beyond March 20th. But for the moment, what we know is that they’ll
close it on March 20th. But again, given the demand of visas from previous years, we know
that there's going to be probably more people registering than visas available. So, just
like in previous years, they'll have a random selection of the registrations, people who
registered before March 20th, and of those that are randomly select the number of people
that can actually file. And again, just like before, they'll select first the regular cap,
and then they'll proceed to the master's cap, just like in previous years. And there will
be a similar lottery but instead of doing a lottery from cases filed, they'll do a lottery
from cases registered. So, to summarize, what we know is there's going to be a registration
open on March 1st, there may be a date released before of when employees can register. There's
going to be a cost of $10 to register. We know that there's going to be probably more
people applying than there are visas so there’ll be a random selection, kind of like a lottery.
And at the same time, we also know that employers are going to be waiting for instructions as
to how to register, those are also going to be released. What is unknown to us is how
all this registration is going to impact the whole climate of filing. It's only $10, where
the big companies are going to be filing multiple applications for many employees, even without
the intention of hiring them. We don't know how the government is actually going to create
a mechanism to control that. What we do know is that anybody who is selected is essentially
forced to file otherwise it can be some repercussions from employer for fear of frivolous filings.
So, to summarize it, this is going to be a very different H1B season. We know there's
going to be a lot of confusion in filing and people that are going to make mistakes and
may not qualify afterwards. There's only one shot. So we are monitoring the regulations
very closely. I will release another video, probably in a few weeks when we have more
indications as to how this process is going to work. But as of now, this is what we know.
Get ready for March 1st, this year for registration filing. It is important to seek advice from
attorneys before to understand what professions are going to qualify. We know that there's
going to be a lot of occupations, like in the marketing, and sales and many others that
are not going to qualify. If they will, there has to be a different way to kind of how to
prepare those cases. We know it's going to be a lot of RFEs, Requests For Evidence, this
year, just like last year, so it's important to be prepared. But at the same time, H1B
is a great visa. It's one of the only options to hire foreign workers to help US employers
scale and make the business amazing. So, hopefully, this video was helpful, just to give you the
information about the new changes for the H1B registration program. And please let me
know in the comments what other questions you have, confusion, concerns. If you're an
employer, happy to call, to set up a consultation to discuss your needs for 2020. So, thanks
for watching, and I'll see you in our next video.