March 8^th, 2021

USCIS has provided tips to avoid common mistakes with the H-1B electronic registration. It is important to note that the initial registration period for FY2022 H-1B cap will open at noon (ET) on March 9^th. During last year’s H-1B electronic registration process, the top most user errors were creating the wrong type of account and entering the same beneficiary more than once.

 There are three different types of USCIS online accounts: the applicant/ petitioner/requester account, attorney/representative account, and the registrant account. The first account mentioned is for individuals looking to prepare and file applications, petitions, or other benefit requests. This account type cannot be used to prepare or submit H-1B registrations. On the other hand, you should select the attorney/representative account, if you are an attorney or accredited representative submitting H-1B registrations on behalf of a prospective petitioner. Lastly, the registrant account is the account type all prospective petitioners must create in order to participate in the H-1B registration process, regardless of whether the prospective petitioner will be using an attorney or accredited representative to submit the registration.

To avoid duplicate entries,  it is recommended that attorneys and authorized individuals who work for the same company coordinate before submitting their registrations. A prospective petitioner may only have one registration submitted per beneficiary per fiscal year. Once the initial registration period has closed, if the prospective petitioner has more than one registration submitted for the same beneficiary, USCIS will remove all registrations submitted for that beneficiary by that prospective petitioner from the selection process. Nevertheless, this does not prevent other prospective petitioners or their representatives from submitting registrations for that same beneficiary, but they too need to ensure that each prospective petitioner only has one registration submitted for the beneficiary. If you find that you or your representative have submitted more than one registration for the same person, while the initial registration period is still open (before noon Eastern on March 25, 2021), you can go into your account and delete the extra submissions, until there is only one registration for the beneficiary. If, however, the initial registration period has closed, there will be no way to correct this error, resulting in the removal of all registrations submitted for the beneficiary by that prospective petitioner.

Attorney Jing Feng is a decorated immigration lawyer who has been working in immigration for years. She has notable experience in this domain, and has successfully helped a plethora of clients with the H-1B electronic registration process. For further consultation on related immigration matters, please contact Jing Feng Law Group, PLLC at jfeng@fengvisa.com or 646-288-7129. We look forward to hearing from you!