Overview
Prepare and file H-1B Electronic Registrations in just a fraction of the time with H-1B Electronic Registration e-Filling powered by Docketwise's industry-leading Smart Forms.
Notes:
You must be on either a Pro or Advanced subscription to access this feature.
This feature is currently in Beta and must be enabled under Settings > Beta Access.
Contents
Getting Started with e-Filing
If it is your first time e-filing with USCIS via Docketwise, there is an initial setup you will need to complete and a couple of things you'll want to keep in mind:
E-filing is only supported for attorney/legal representative accounts (applicant/petitioner/requestor type accounts are not supported by Docketwise e-filing).
If you already have an authentication method active on your USCIS account, you will need to update your authentication method to use an authenticator app in order to obtain the OTP code used by Docketwise to e-file.
This will only need to be done once when e-filing your first form.
See Setting Up the USCIS Authentication App for more details.
You can find more details directly below on getting started with e-filing forms with USCIS via Docketwise.
USCIS Account Setup
As mentioned above, only e-filing with USCIS via Docketwise only supports e-filing for USCIS accounts under the account type of attorney/legal representative.
If you do not yet have a USCIS account with this attorney/legal representative account type, you can follow USCIS's guide to set up your new account here.
Note: The password for the USCIS account will be required when e-filing via Docketwise.
Setting Up the USCIS Authentication App
If the field for my.uscis.gov OTP secret is blank or needs to be updated, you will need to set up the USCIS Authentication app with Docketwise. If you already already have a USCIS Authentication app set up, you will need to remove it and create a new one to acquire the code in the setup steps. You can learn more about getting the OTP secret by following the steps below:
Navigate to my.uscis.gov dashboard
Select the Edit My Account option
Select the Edit option for Two-Step Verification
Choose the option for Use an Authentication App and click the Submit button
Click the link to enter this text code
Copy the Key from the App Authentication Manual Entry modal and close the modal
This Key is the OTP Secret that you will need to enter in Docketwise when e-filing Entering Information to Sync to my.uscis.gov
We recommend securely saving this Key/OTP Secret within a document or writing it down as well
Open the authenticator app of your choice on your mobile device, select the option to add a new app, and scan the QR code from the screen (even if you already set up an authenticator app with your my.uscis.gov account, you will need still need to complete this step in order for this to work correctly)
Enter the OTP code from your authenticator app in the field for the Secure verification code from your authentication app
Click the Submit button
Enter the Key/OTP Secret in Docketwise when e-filing your next form once you reach Entering Information to Sync to my.uscis.gov
Preparing the Registration in Docketwise
To get started, you will need to create a draft of the registration, which is similar to Smart Forms in Docketwise. After this, you can use and information already in the Docketwise for the company and prospective employee. To gather any missing information, it's easy to fill this in with any info already on file or to share the questionnaire with the employer.
Note: There is a current limit of 20 beneficiaries with bulk preparation.
Creating the Registration
The registration can be created just like any smart form, or you can start a bulk filing from the employer's contact overview page.
Bulk Select Flow
Navigate to the Employees tab of the employer's contact overview page
Check the box for any prospective employees you wish to include in the registration
Click the Bulk Actions button
Select the H-1B Registration option
After these steps, the Smart Form will be created for the employer and selected beneficiaries. If you wish to add any additional beneficiaries, you can do so from the Assemble tab of the Smart Form.
Normal Smart Form Flow
You can also start creating a registration, as you would any other Smart Form.
Click Create New > Form
Select H-1B Registration e-Filing
Add the petitioning employer and beneficiaries
Completing the Smart Form Questionnaire
After you have created the forms, you can add information directly to the questionnaire and also invite the parties involved to complete the electronic questionnaire to gather all of the necessary information. Any information already in Docketwise will already be filled out for the registration.
You can click here for a refresher on smart form invitations and here to learn more about the questionnaire in the intake tab.
e-Filing the Registration with Docketwise
E-Filing any of our available forms is made easy in Docketwise by using our step-by-step e-Filing process. If you wish to learn more about each step in the e-Filing process with Docketwise you will find more information below.
For a more detailed breakdown of the e-filing steps, you can refer to this article.
e-Filing the H-1B Registration
In this first step, you will need to click the e-File this form with my.uscis.gov button to get started. After you click this button, Docketwise automatically validates whether or not the questionnaire is filled out correctly so it can be synced over to USCIS' e-filing platform.
If the Initial Validation Fails
If the initial validation fails, you will receive an error message, showing you a list of errors that need to be fixed in order to e-file the form.
If the Initial Validation Passes
If the initial validation passes, you can start e-filing the form.
Entering Information to Sync to my.uscis.gov
In order to sync the e-filing to your my.uscis.gov account, you will need to provide:
The email address related to your USCIS online account
USCIS online account password
The my.uscis.gov OTP secret for your account.
Once you have entered all of the necessary information into the modal, click the Sync button to start syncing your e-filing.
Notes:
If you already have a working my.uscis.gov OTP secret entered from a previous e-filing on Docketwise, you can keep it the same.
If the field for my.uscis.gov OTP secret is blank or needs to be updated, you will need to follow the steps for Setting Up the USCIS Authentication App.
After you have entered all of the necessary information into the modal and clicked the Sync button to start syncing your e-filing, you will receive a prompt letting you know that your form is successfully queued to be e-filed.
If the e-Filing was Unsuccessful
If the e-Filing was unsuccessful, you will receive a prompt and an in-app notification that the e-filing was unsuccessful. Please make sure your email, password, and OTP secret are correct. Once you have verified that the information is correct, you can click the e-File this form on my.uscis.gov button to re-attempt your e-filing.
If the e-Filing was Successful
If the e-Filing was successful, you will receive a prompt and an in-app notification that the syncing of the information was successfully completed and you can proceed to the next step.
Complete Steps on my.uscis.gov Platform
In this step of the e-filing process, you will need to complete a few steps outside of Docketwise in the my.uscis.gov platform such as reviewing and confirming the information entered into the e-filing form is correct and complete, uploading evidentiary documents, signing, etc.
You can also use the link within the e-filing form in Docketwise to access the e-filing draft.
Once you are ready, you can click the Finish and Continue button from the my.uscis.gov platform under the section Review and Submit > Finish and continue to G-28.
Confirming in Docketwise
Once you have completed the action above, you will need to click the Confirm button in the e-File tab for the form you e-filing.
e-Filing the Attached G-28
Start Adding G-28 Info
Once you are ready to start adding the G-28 information to your e-filing, click the Add my G-28 information button in the e-File tab for the form you e-filing. After you click this button, Docketwise will again automatically validate whether or not the questionnaire is filled out correctly so it can be synced over to USCIS' e-filing platform.
If the Validation Fails
If the initial validation fails, you will receive an error message, showing you a list of errors that need to be fixed in order to add your G-28 information to the e-filing.
If the Validation Passes
If the validation passes, you can start e-filing the G-28.
Entering Information to Sync G-28 Info to my.uscis.gov
In order to sync the G-28 information for your e-filing, you will need to enter your my.uscis.gov password and the URL for the G-28 portion of your associated e-filing from my.uscis.gov.
In order to locate the URL from USCIS to continue the G-28, you will need to follow the steps below:
Open the My Clients page on my.uscis.gov
Select the Cases tab
Click the Continue G-28 button for the associated e-filing's case
From the page that is opened after clicking this button, copy the URL from the address bar in your browser
Paste this URL into the field for URL from USCIS to continue the G-28
If the e-Filing was Unsuccessful
If the e-Filing was unsuccessful, you will receive a prompt and an in-app notification that the e-filing was unsuccessful. Please make sure your password and URL from USCIS to continue the G-28 are correct. Once you have verified that the information is correct, you can click the e-File this form on Add my G-28 information button to re-attempt your e-filing.
If the e-Filing was Successful
If the e-Filing was successful, you will receive a prompt and an in-app notification that the syncing of the information was successfully completed and you can proceed to the next step.