USCIS Proposes $10 Registration Fee for H-1B Cap-Subject Filings

As USCIS announced in June, cap filings made in April 2020 may include a $10 registration fee for employers who wish to register for the lottery. USCIS will publish a proposed rule in the September 4 Federal Register notice that would allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to amend its regulations to require petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions to pay a $10 fee for each registration they submit to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for the H-1B cap selection process.

While USCIS estimates that the H-1B registration process will result in a significant annual cost savings to the U.S. government, this new fee is proposed in order to recoup the investment made by the government in the initial development of the registration website.

The public is given the opportunity to comment on the proposed registration fee before the rule is finalized based on consideration of public comments. This comment period is usually 60 days, but, in order to implement the fee prior to the date the registration process is implemented (as soon as FY 2021) completed, DHS has implemented an expedited 30-day comment period. Therefore employers who will be impacted by this additional fee should review the notice and take advantage of the opportunity to submit comments to:

Via the Federal eRulemaking Portal: Follow this site’s instructions for submitting comments.

Via Mail: Samantha Deshommes, Chief, Regulatory Coordination Division, Office of
Policy and Strategy, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of
Homeland Security,

20 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Mailstop #2140, Washington,DC 20529-2140.

To ensure proper handling, please reference DHS Docket No.USCIS-2019-0006 in your correspondence.

Mail must be postmarked by the comment submission deadline.