00:01US Citizenship and Immigration
Services is launching
00:05organizational accounts in
February 2024. This is one of
00:09many steps USCIS is taking to
increase operational
00:12efficiencies and enhance online
account features and
00:15functionalities. This video is
tailored to prospective H-1B
00:19petitioning organizations to
help them set up their
00:21organizational accounts
correctly. The images in this
00:24video may not match exactly what
you see in your online account
00:28because we continue to make
adjustments based on user
00:30feedback. But the steps we
explain are the same as what you
00:33should do to establish your
organizational account. We
00:37appreciate your patience as we
continue our work to improve
00:39your user experience.
Organizational accounts are part
00:43of an enhanced online account
platform where organizations
00:46seeking to hire H-1B workers can
collaborate on H-1B
00:50registrations, Form I-129 H-1B
petitions, and Form I-907
00:55requests for premium processing.
This collaboration extends to
00:59legal representatives and
paralegals and includes both cap
01:03and non cap filings. With these
enhancements, we have made the
01:06H-1B benefit lifecycle
completely electronic, you still
01:10have the option to submit paper
forms, but we're pleased to
01:13offer more features and a better
user experience with these
01:16enhancements. Organizational
accounts require that account
01:19holders have one of two roles.
The role of administrator is the
01:23most important and this person
should be chosen carefully. The
01:27administrator has broad
permissions can set up a company
01:30group and sign registrations and
forms to be submitted to USCIS
01:34among other actions. The second
role is a member. Members play a
01:38support role by helping prepare
H-1B registrations and Forms
01:42I-129 and I-907. As you prepare
to use organizational accounts,
01:47there are two fundamental
principles to understand that
01:49will help you avoid mistakes.
The first is that organizations
01:53should consider who will have
the role of administrator. Also
01:56you should decide if your chosen
administrator will create a
01:59company group or if your legal
representative will do that for
02:02you. Planning these initial
steps before anyone logs in will
02:06help avoid the situation where
someone initiates the process
02:09and inadvertently creates a
company group when they
02:11shouldn't have. Company groups
cannot be merged or deleted.
02:15Taking preparatory actions to
establish roles will help you
02:18avoid irreversible missteps. The
second principle to understand
02:22is that a company can have more
than one company group, but
02:25groups are not able to
collaborate with each other.
02:28Collaboration occurs online
within company groups. For
02:31example, here is alpha group,
the three people in alpha group
02:35can collaborate with everyone
inside this group. If a company
02:38decides to create a second
company group, it will need to
02:41designate another person to be
the administrator and that
02:44person will set up the new
group. In this example, beta
02:47group is the second group. The
point to remember here is that
02:50the members of each group can
collaborate only with the people
02:53in their group, and alpha group
and beta group cannot cross
02:57collaborate with each other, or
any other company group. You may
03:00be wondering, how do I get to
this new and improved platform,
03:04it's very easy. If your company
selected you to be an
03:07administrator, responsible for
creating a company group, and
03:10you already have an H-1B
registered account from prior
03:13cap seasons, you will log in as
usual to your account at
03:16my.uscis.gov. After you log in,
you will automatically be
03:20upgraded to the enhanced account
platform. If your company
03:24designates you to be an
administrator responsible for
03:26creating a company group, and
you do not have an existing H-1B
03:30registered account. Don't worry,
you can create a new account
03:33my.uscis.gov. When you're asked
what type of account you want to
03:38create, you need to choose the
third option shown here the
03:41organizational account type.
Once created, your new account
03:45will automatically be on the
enhanced platform. Whether you
03:47upgrade your existing H-1B
registered account or you create
03:51a new organizational account,
either path will bring you to
03:54this new company onboarding
page. Right now I am performing
03:57the actions of the
administrator. There are two
04:00activity tiles on this page.
Create a company group is the
04:03first one and I will come back
to this in a minute. The second
04:07activity tile has information to
learn more about company groups.
04:10Please note that this second
tile will change in the future
04:13to accompany group lookup tool.
Now, I will choose Create
04:17company group. On this page
there is another review of the
04:20two roles possible in a company
group, administrator and member.
04:26Acting as administrator. I've
come to the page where I will
04:29create the company profile. I
will enter the company's name in
04:33the "doing business as" name if
there is one. For this
04:36demonstration. My company name
is Fast Bikes. I also need to
04:40enter a tax identification
number which can be an employer
04:43identification number, social
security number or Individual
04:46Taxpayer Identification Number,
and then I enter the company's
04:50mailing address and choose
Continue. A green alert appears
04:54indicating that I successfully
created my company profile. Now
04:58I'll move on to my personal
profile. For this demonstration,
05:02my name is Ali Smith, because I
logged into my existing
05:05H-1Bregistered account and
upgraded it to the
05:08organizational account type. By
default, I have the role of
05:11administrator. My permissions
are listed here. At the bottom
05:15of this page, I choose how I
want to receive the one time pin
05:18each time I sign in, then I
choose Create company group.
05:22After this point, I cannot undo
or delete this company group. On
05:26the next page, I see this blue
alert, indicating that I
05:29successfully created my company
group. Then I'll select Get
05:33Started. This is my company
homepage. At the top there are
05:36three navigation tabs, my
company, file a form, and my
05:40representatives. Also at the
top. Under my account, there is
05:44a drop down list giving me
access to my profile, my company
05:47profile and additional account
actions. To add more people to
05:51my company group, I can choose
Manage company group. We use
05:54this feature here called the
toggle bar throughout the new
05:57platform. It has two parts. When
I click on the left side, I can
06:02see and manage people in my
company group. When I activate
06:05the right side, I can see and
manage invitations. Under Manage
06:09invitations, I have no
invitations and under Manage
06:12Users, I see that I Ali Smith,
and the only person in the
06:16company group and I have the
role of administrator. To add
06:19somebody to the company group, I
choose Add User. The person I am
06:24inviting is Sam Stewart, I enter
his name and company email
06:28address, then, I need to choose
a role for Sam. As I mentioned
06:32before, there are two possible
roles administrator or member.
06:37We recommend that each company
group have at least two
06:39administrators so that there is
a backup who can perform those
06:42functions. I will choose
administrator as the role for
06:45Sam, the second administrator,
and then select Send Request, I
06:50can see a green alert indicating
that my invitation to Sam was
06:53sent successfully. And here
under Manage invitations, I can
06:57see that there is an invitation
pending for Sam to be an
06:59administrator. Now, I am
performing the actions of the
07:03second administrator, Sam
Stewart. Sam will receive an
07:07invitation that looks like this
one, inviting him to the Fast
07:10Bikes company group. If Sam
suspects he was invited by
07:13mistake, he can ignore the
invitation. It will expire in
07:17seven calendar days. To accept
the invitation. Sam will click
07:21on this blue button. After Sam
logs in he will come to this
07:24company onboarding page which
has one extra activity tile than
07:27the onboarding page than Ali the
first administrator had when
07:31they logged into the new system.
There are three activity tiles
07:34on this page, create a company
group, review your pending
07:37invitations and learn more about
company groups. Sam will select
07:41the activity tile that says
review your pinning invitations
07:45because he was invited to join
an existing company group. In
07:48almost every situation. When
someone is invited to join a
07:51company group. They will choose
the tile that says review your
07:54pinning invitations. Now Sam
will review the invitation that
07:58Ali sent him. He was invited to
join the Fast Bikes company
08:01group as an administrator, he
needs to review and acknowledge
08:05the company profile in his
assigned role as administrator.
08:08Then he will select this blue
button to accept the invitation.
08:12Now, I am back in the account of
the first administrator Ali
08:16Smith. Under Manage invitations,
I see that I have no invitations
08:20pending because Sam accepted the
invitation I sent him. Under
08:23Manage Users, I see that there
are now two people in the
08:26company group, me and Sam
steward and we both have the
08:30role of administrator. Because I
am an administrator, I have the
08:33ability here to change Sam's
role from administrator to
08:36member. I also can remove Sam
from the group if I need to. In
08:40Sam's account, you will see the
inverse of this with the ability
08:43to modify my role and remove me
from the group because he is
08:46also an administrator. If the
company has a legal
08:49representative, and they want to
collaborate online with that
08:52representative, either Ali or
Sam can go to the My
08:55representatives tab at the top
of their respective home pages
08:59to invite a representative to
collaborate. Here again, I am
09:02performing the actions of Ali
the first administrator, I click
09:06on the My representatives tab.
And here under Manage Users I
09:09can see there are no
representatives linked to this
09:11company group. under Manage
invitations. I have no pending
09:15invitations either. To invite a
representative I choose invite a
09:19representative. Here I will
enter my representatives name
09:22and business email address. For
this demonstration. My
09:25representative is Lee Norris.
Then I choose Submit, I see a
09:29green alert indicating that I
successfully invited a
09:32representative to collaborate.
And here under Manage
09:35invitations. I see that I have
invited Lee Norris to be my
09:38representative. Now, I am
performing the actions of Lee
09:42Norris, the Representative Lee
will receive an invitation that
09:45looks like this one, inviting
him to collaborate with Fast
09:48Bikes company group. To proceed
with the invitation. Lee will
09:51select this blue button, the
first time that Lee logs into
09:55his legal representative
account. After the new platform
09:58is launched. You will see this
blue Alert indicating that his
10:01account has been upgraded, and
he is now able to collaborate
10:04online with company clients and
can form a legal team with
10:07paralegals on his staff. To open
the invitation, Lee would go to
10:11his my clients tab at the top of
his homepage. There are two
10:14types of clients, individuals
and companies. He will choose
10:19company clients. Under manage
clients, we can see he doesn't
10:22have any company clients. under
Manage invitations, you can see
10:27that he has an invitation from
Fast Bikes that is waiting for
10:29his response. To open the
invitation, you will click on
10:33the hyperlink that says View
invitation. We can see that Ali
10:36Smith from Fast Bikes has
invited him to collaborate, he
10:39needs to review and acknowledge
the company profile, review his
10:43information and assigned role
and then he can accept the
10:46invitation. Now at the top of
Lee's account homepage, there is
10:50a green alert indicating that he
accepted the invitation from
10:53Fast Bikes and in so doing added
Fast Bikes as a client further
10:57down. under Manage companies,
Lee can see that Fast Bikes has
11:01been added as accompany client,
you can click this blue
11:04hyperlink view company and see
that Ali Smith and Sam Stewart
11:08are set up to collaborate with
him and they both have the role
11:11of administrator. Now I am back
in the first administrators
11:16account and I am performing the
actions of Ali Smith. When I
11:19click the My representatives
tab, under Manage Users, I can
11:23see that Lee Norris his legal
team is available for
11:25collaboration. I can click on
this hyperlink to see the
11:28members of the legal team. When
it's time to prepare H-1B
11:32registrations or forms, Ali and
her representative, Lee, will
11:35need to coordinate and decide
who will start them. This is an
11:38important consideration because
the legal team cannot access
11:42view or edit draft started by
anyone in the company. However,
11:46draft started by the legal team
can be reviewed by the company
11:49group, the company group can
accept or decline drafts
11:53prepared by the representative
to start preparing H-1B
11:56registrations and forms. Anyone
from the company group or legal
12:00team can begin by choosing the
tab called file a form at the
12:04top of either of their
respective home pages. Here's
12:07the drop down menu showing how
they can choose one of the forms
12:09available for prospective
petitioning companies. This
12:13concludes our overview of how
prospective petitioning
12:16companies set up organizational
accounts and use them to
12:19collaborate within company
groups and with legal teams. For
12:22more information about
organizational accounts, please
12:25read our organizational accounts
frequently asked questions,
12:29which are posted on the
uscis. gov H-1B webpage. You may
12:34also want to check out our
videos posted to the USCIS
12:37YouTube channel. Thank you for
your interest in USCIS's
12:41organizational accounts.
