The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has officially finalized the H-1B Cap registration fee of $10 for each H-1B registration. However, DHS has yet to announce if this $10 non-refundable registration fee will be implemented for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 cap season.
According to the new rule, once the fee is implemented, H-1B petitioning employers for a given cap season will need to pay the $10 fee and pre-register each H-1B worker in an H-1B cap registration portal. If an H-1B cap petition is selected by USCIS during this pre-registration period, the petitioning employer would then file the full H-1B petition.
The $10 fee will be non-refundable and mandatory for each H-1B cap registration at the time of submission on the H-1B online registration portal. The payment may be made by the employer or an attorney with a G-28, Notice of Entry of Appearance, on file. While cash, certified bank checks, and money orders will not be accepted, the payment can be made by credit card, debit card, or from a checking or savings account. Payments will be made through the Pay.gov online fee system.
DHS has also confirmed that batch registrations and payments will be accepted in the online portal, with no limit to the number of beneficiaries an employer can register at one time and no limit to the number of batches an employer may submit during the registration period.
Ultimately, the timeframe of when the fee will be implemented is dependent on whether the technology to launch and maintain the online registration portal will be ready for public use.
Please do not hesitate to contact our office with any further questions regarding this matter.