This article was prepared with the assistance of ABIL, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers, of which Loan Huynh, Fredrikson Immigration Department Chair, is a member.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on March 30, 2021, that it received enough electronic registrations during the initial registration period to reach the fiscal year (FY) 2022 H-1B numerical allocations (H-1B cap), including the advanced degree exemption (master’s cap).
The agency notified all prospective petitioners with selected registrations that they are eligible to file H-1B cap-subject petitions for the named beneficiaries. The filing period for petitions began on April 1, 2021. USCIS said, when completing the Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, to ensure that the below question is included as Question 5 in Supplement H on page 13. If you have already filled out Form I-129 and this question was not included, you may replace Supplement H in your petition by printing out and completing pages 13 and 14 from the current version of Form I-129 on uscis.gov and including them with your petition. Starting July 1, 2021, we will only accept the 03/10/21 edition of Form I-129. Until then, you can also use the 09/30/20 and 01/27/20 editions.
The question to be included states, “If you selected a. or d. in Item Number 4., and are filing an H-1B cap petition (including a petition under the U.S. advanced degree exemption), provide the Beneficiary Confirmation Number from the H-1B Registration Selection Notice for the beneficiary named in this petition (if applicable).”
