USCIS announced that it has completed a pilot testing phase and is implementing the registration process in the next H‑1B lottery. Per the announcement, employers seeking to file H‑1B cap-subject petitions for the FY2021 cap, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, must first electronically register and pay the associated $10 H‑1B registration fee. USCIS will open an initial registration period from March 1 through March 20, 2020. 

• During this initial registration period, prospective petitioners or their authorized representatives must electronically submit a separate registration naming each foreign worker for whom they seek to file an H-1B cap-subject petition.

• If a sufficient number of registrations are received, USCIS will randomly select the number of registrations projected as needed to reach the H-1B numerical allocations after the initial registration period closes and no later than March 31, 2020.

• Prospective petitioners with selected registrations will be eligible to file a cap-subject petition only for the alien named in the registration. Once the H-1B registration system has been implemented, and when registration is required, the agency will not consider a cap-subject petition properly filed unless it is based on a valid registration selection for the same beneficiary, and the appropriate fiscal year. Additionally, although petitioners can register multiple aliens during a single online submission, duplicate registrations for the same beneficiary in the same fiscal year will be discarded.