On April 1, 2024, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced they had received enough initial electronic registrations for unique individuals for the fiscal year 2025 (“FY25”) H-1B cap, as well as the advanced degree exemption (master’s cap) and have randomly selected enough properly submitted registrations. The Service has completed the notifications to all employers who submitted online registrations. Those with selected registrations may begin filing H-1B cap subject petitions for FY2025 as of the first of April and have been given until June 30 to file their petition with the service either on paper at the correct filing location or online at my.uscis.gov within the filing period that is indicated on the selection notice.
Read moreFY2025 H-1B Lottery Kick Off
It’s time for the newly updated H-1B Visa Lottery! Upon introducing the final rule which initiated many changes to the fiscal year 2025 (“FY25”) H-1B Lottery, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced the initial registration period for the FY25 H-1B cap will begin at 12pm ET on March 6, 2024, and run through 12pm ET on March 22, 2024. During this registration period, prospective petitioners and representatives will be able to submit their H-1B registrations using online accounts and pay the required $10 fee for each registration submitted on behalf of each beneficiary.
Read moreH-1B Domestic Renewal Pilot Program
The Department of State (“DOS”) has updated details on the long-awaited domestic visa renewal pilot program for H-1B renewal applicants. The program officially launched on January 29, 2024, and allows applicants who received an H-1B visa from a US embassy or consulate in Canada or India during a specific timeframe to renew H-1B visas without traveling to U.S. consulates abroad. A maximum of 20,000 applications will be accepted until April 1, 2024, or when all slots are filled.
Read moreUSCIS Has Reached the H-1B Cap for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced they have received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions needed to reach the H-1B cap limit for fiscal year 2024 (“FY 2024”), which runs from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024. This applies to both the congressionally mandated 65,000 FY 2024 regular cap limit, as well as the 20,000 advanced degree (masters) cap exemptions. USCIS also noted it will be sending non-selection notifications to registrants’ online accounts in the course of the next few days.
Read moreDHS Publishes Proposed Rule to Modernize H-1B Program
On October 23, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register to “modernize the H-1B specialty occupation worker program.” There is a sixty-day notice and comment period for the proposed rule, and the public is invited to submit comments on the Federal Register website.
The proposed rule sets out to impose changes to the H-1B program, as well as to codify a number of existing rules. We must point out that the proposed rule is quite lengthy; therefore, our summary does not cover all of the proposed changes. We will outline a few of the most notable proposed changes below which we feel may be of most interest to our community.
Read moreH-1B Visa Domestic Visa Renewal Pilot Program Set to Start in January 2024
On November 28, 2023, the Department of State (“DOS”) announced the launch of a Pilot Program which will permit an initial Twenty Thousand H-1B visa holders to renew their visas by mailing them to the State Department rather than having to travel abroad to renew. The program which was first made public in February 2023 is set to debut in January 2024.
Read moreUS Expected to Announce Measures to Ease Visas for Skilled Indian Workers
According to a Reuter’s exclusive report the Biden administration is preparing to “facilitate the residence and employment of Indians in the country” by announcing new regulation that will permit “a select group of Indian and other foreign workers on H-1B visas…to renew their visas within the United States, eliminating the need to travel abroad.” The report reaffirms our previously reported news from The Department of State’s (“DOS”) February announcement introducing the prospect of launching a pilot program for H and L visa holders to renew their visas in the US, instead of having to travel abroad.
Read moreEmployment Authorization Documents Based on Compelling Circumstances
On June 14, 2023, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced new policy guidance has been added to its Policy Manual addressing the eligibility criteria for the issuance of employment authorization documents in compelling circumstances. Classified as those circumstances which are “beyond the usual hardship associated with job loss”, Volume 10 of the USCIS Policy Manual, details what foreign nationals must show in order to be eligible for an initial Employment Authorization Document (“EAD”) based on compelling circumstances.
Read moreUSCIS Releases Record FY24 H-1B Registration Numbers and Launches Investigation into Fraudulent Entries
Following up on its March 27, 2023 announcement that it had received enough initial registrations for the Fiscal Year 2024 (“FY24”) H-1B Cap, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has released data about the number of registrations received for the visa lottery. USCIS received a record breaking 780,884 H-1B registrations during the three week registration period. Of these over 780 thousand registrations, USCIS determined 758,994 were eligible registrations. This figure excludes duplicate registrations, those with failed payments, and those that were deleted by prospective employers prior to the closing of the registration period. The number of registrations for FY24 mark a sixty-one percent increase from 474,421 eligible registrations received for FY23. This significant increase has raised “serious concerns” and USCIS has begun to investigate potential employers who may have worked together to submit multiple registrations on behalf of the same beneficiary to increase their chance of being selected in the H-1B lottery.
Read moreJudge Upholds Right of Spouses of Certain H-1B Visa Holders to Work in the US
US District Judge Tanya Chutkan dismissed a law suit brought by Save Jobs USA against U.S. Department of Homeland Security (15-cv-0015, US District Court, District of Columbia) which challenged the rights of certain highly skilled H-1B visa holders’ spouses to work in the US. Judge Chutkan upheld rule which grants certain H-4 visa holders the right for work authorization parallel to their spouses’ H-1B visa validity for employment in the US. The same Judge had previously dismissed the suit, ruling that Save Jobs lacked standing to challenge the H-4 rule. However, a federal appeals court reversed that ruling in 2019 and revived the case.
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