H1B pre registration deadline 2021

Preregistration Deadline

The H1B pre registration deadline for 2021 is fast approaching. The application period starts March 9th and it ends March 25th. So this is it guys. You need to start getting your applications in.

Why you should preregister by the deadline

The immigration service will stop accepting the applications on noon March 25th. And by March 31st, they will let you know if your application was accepted into the H1B lottery. And then the first day that you can apply for the H1B will be April 1st. If you don’t have your pre-registration application in by the 25th, you’re probably not going to be able to get an H1B at all. Your chances will be zero, as far as getting an H1B approved for this year.

Preregistration numbers/statistics

Why am I saying that? Well, there are only 85,000 H1B visas available each year by law for most applications. And what’s going to happen is during that roughly three week window from March 9th to March 25th, there will be way more than 85,000 applications for the H1B lottery.

Typically there are somewhere between two and 350 to a little under 400,000 applications each year for those H1B slots. So if they have more than 85,000 applications during that March 9th to March 25th window, then they will keep assigning lottery numbers to as many as they can. And then once they hit the 85,000 cap, that’s it, you are not going to be able to file your application after the 25th, because all of the H1Bs, would have been gone by March 25th. Last year they did do a second round of H1B lottery, but that’s after they picked the first 85,000 and then some companies and employees ended up not applying, or maybe some of them were not approved. And it opened up a small number of additional H1B applications. But even for those cases, they were still in the pre-registration and met the pre-registration guidelines. So if you don’t meet the pre-registration guidelines and file your app, your pre-registration application you will not be considered for an H1B for this year.

Doesn’t apply if you already have an H1B

And let me make it clear, I’m only talking about new H1B applications. If you already have an H1B and you’re doing something like an H1B change of employer or an extension of your H1B, this does not apply to you. This is only for H1B cap filings for 2021.

You can click this link to get a general overview of the H1B cap visa process for 2021.  I hope that’s helpful. And I will talk to you later.