United States' H-1B Visa for FY 2023 To Begin From March 1

The registration for the much sought-after H-1B visa for the fiscal year 2023 will begin from March 1 and the successful applicants will be randomly selected and notified online by March 31, according to the US federal immigration agency.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in a statement said the initial registration period for the fiscal year 2023 H-1B cap will open at noon Eastern on March 1 and run through noon Eastern on March 18, 2022.

During the period, prospective petitioners and representatives will be able to complete and submit their registrations using the online H-1B registration system, the agency said in a statement on Friday.

"If we receive enough registrations by March 18, we will randomly select registrations and send selection notifications via users' myUSCIS online accounts. We intend to notify account holders by March 31," the USCIS said in the statement.

As mandated by the Congress, USCIS can issue a maximum of 65,000 H-1B visas in a year. It can also issue another 20,000 H-1B visas to foreign students who have completed higher studies from a US university in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects.

The USCIS will assign a confirmation number to each registration submitted for the FY 2023 H-1B cap. This number will be used solely to track registrations and not to track the applicant's case status in Case Status Online.