The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to charge employers a $10 registration fee—per H-1B candidate—to participate in its mandatory electronic H-1B registration system. The new fee will apply to all H-1B applications submitted for selection in the annual lottery, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption.

According to the proposed rule published in the Federal Register, DHS aims to have the registration fee requirement finalized before it rolls out the new electronic registration process, which could be in place for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 cap season, which begins on April 1, 2020. Given the short amount of time between now and the beginning of FY 2021 cap season, the agency has shortened the notice-and-comment period from the standard 60 days to only 30 days, giving the public until October 4, 2019, to submit comments about the proposed registration fee.