Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Do you remember group projects in high school? 

Well USCIS does, and the agency is bringing them into the immigration sector. 

On February 28, 2024, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is launching something called organizational accounts, which will allow “multiple individuals within an organization, such as a company or other business entity, and their legal representatives to collaborate on and prepare H-1B registrations.” 

Once the new organizational accounts process becomes live on the USCIS website, the entire H-1B lifecycle will become fully electronic - every part of the application and decision process will be online, rather than having to use traditional paper filings. This is in step with USCIS's announced plan to offer all USCIS forms online by the end of fiscal year 2026. 

The H-1B visa is a temporary nonimmigrant visa category that is open to highly educated or highly experienced people in specialty occupations. There are many limitations attached to the H-1B visa, and it has an annual cap of 65,000 new statuses/visas each fiscal year. 20,000 more petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries with a master's degree or higher from a U.S. institution of higher education are exempt from the cap. Aside from those numbers, there are some H-1B workers who are not subject to the numerical cap, for example those who have been petitioned for or are employed at an institution of higher education or its affiliated or related nonprofit entities, a nonprofit research organization, or a government research organization.

Because there are so many companies, universities, government organizations, and non-profits that employ large numbers of H-1B visa holders, the ability for those groups to have organizational accounts on the USCIS website should streamline the application process for large groups of H-1B applicants. USCIS has already conducted usability testing on the organizational accounts, so the agency is optimistic that when the official launch of the new system starts, it will be smooth for users across the country.  

Essentially, each petitioning company or organization will have an administrator, and a legal representative (in other words a point person), and together they will have the ability and responsibility to oversee the process of each H-1B applicant that theri group has applied for.

Some Important Dates:

• February 28, 2024: USCIS will launch online filing of Form I-129 and associated Forms I-907 for non-cap H-1B petitions. 

• April 1, 2024: USCIS will begin accepting online filing for H-1B cap petitions and associated Forms I-907 for petitioners whose registrations have been selected. 

If you or your company have questions about obtaining immigration help in this new process please reach out to us at (757) 422-8472, or send us a message on our website. You can also schedule an appointment with one of our attorneys by clicking on this link.