USCIS changes the selection process for H-1B work visas

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 30 November announced a draft law change that would oblige applicants who apply for work visas H-1B to register in a special electronic form with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).

Фото: Depositphotos

In accordance with the proposed changes, USCIS will also cancel the order in which the agency selects H-1B visas in accordance with the limit on the number of these visas, regardless of the applicant's level of education. This innovation is likely to increase the number of recipients of this type of work visas who have scientific degrees (master's and higher) issued by American educational institutions, thus, the selection will be more based on the merits of applicants.

The H-1B visa program allows companies in the US to temporarily employ foreign workers who have specialized knowledge required to work in a particular position; applicants for visas must have a degree not less than a bachelor's degree. Under current law, when USCIS receives more applications than provided by the H-1B visas limit for a certain period, a computer program randomly selects applications that are subject to further review, on the basis of a lottery.

The proposed legislative changes include a provision that will allow USCIS to temporarily suspend the registration process for issuing these visas during any fiscal year if the agency encounters technical problems in the registration process for H-1B applications and / or with a new electronic processing system. USCIS, if necessary, will be able to use this temporary suspension and for applications for H-1B for 2020 fiscal year to complete all necessary tests and check the new registration system for the H-1B visa and test the new application selection process.

Currently, USCIS is actively working on developing and testing a new electronic registration system for this type of work visa, and if the proposed innovations are approved, the department will not have enough time to implement the new registration system before applying for the 2020 fiscal year, USCIS, rather all, will suspend registration for H-1B visas for 2020 year.

Currently, when the number of applications for H-1B exceeds the established limit for issuing these visas (usually during the first five days of registration), USCIS immediately closes the possibility of new applications, cutting off those that exceed the limit as part of a random selection. The proposed rule will change this process: all submitted applications will be involved in the selection, which will be evaluated based on the level of education of applicants. This will increase the chances that applicants with the highest degree of qualification will receive visas. The proposed process is estimated to lead to an increase in 16% (or 5 340 workers) in the number of H-1B visa recipients who have education no less than a master’s degree from an American higher education institution.

USCIS expects that switching to an electronic registration system will reduce overall costs for applicants and create a more cost-effective application process for H-1B for USCIS. The proposed rule will help reduce the administrative burden of the agency, since the agency will no longer need to process hundreds of thousands of applications for H-1B and supporting documentation before the start of the selection process. This will help reduce the processing time and selection of applications.

Additional information on the proposed innovations will be available in the Federal Register. All interested persons can leave comments on this proposal from Monday, December 3 (exactly then the document will be published in the registry), until January 2 of the year 2019.

At the moment, the project of innovations is available at link.

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