A new proposal by the United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) would mean extreme changes to the H-1B’s lottery program. Although a proposed rule has not yet emerged, it is believed that H-1B employers would be required to pre-register electronically – for each beneficiary – for the H-1B cap lottery, prior to filing petitions for adjudication. Under the new proposal, employers would submit a full petition to USCIS only if the beneficiaries were selected in the H-1B cap lotteries. In previous years, employers were required to submit full petitions with supporting evidence for placement in the H-1B lottery program.
USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna anticipates having a new regulation finalized and implemented for the FY 2020 H-1B cap filing season, set to open in April 2019. A brief notice period would be given to the public.