According to the US Immigration dept., the administration has taken multiple steps to prevent the mishandling and fraudulency in the employment-based visa programmes. Furthermore, they changed the application cap selection process for the H-1B work permit for the smooth functioning. This visa is very popular among Indian tech professionals who uses this pathway to move to US companies in specialty occupations.

To avoid fraudulent practices in work visas, govt. has imposed rules, policy memoranda, and operational changes that will further protect the economic interests of US workers and businesses.

• One of the key change is to ensure the application fees paid by the US Work Visa H-1B petitioners that must be used to train US workers. Explaining the calculation guidelines for one-year foreign employment requirement for L-1 applications to “ensure consistent settlement”.
• Another change is the H-1B cap selection process introduced to improve the chances of selection for applicants with master’s degree or higher from a US institution and extending the collaboration with Department of Justice (DOJ) to identify and eliminate fraud by employers.
• The current cap for the H-1B visa is 65,000 visas in a fiscal year and an additional 20,000 Visas foreign professionals who has US master’s degree or higher.
• The govt. has also come up with a unique USCIS H-1B and H-2B fraud reporting online tip form along with an H-1B Employer Data Hub that will provide information to the public on employers petitioning for H-1B workers.
• The USCIS has issued a report estimating the number of H-1B non-immigrants permitted to work in the United States and further instituted electronic filing for multiple forms using an electronic registration process for the purpose of H-1B cap selection.
• Data shows that the percentage of completed cases with pending request for evidences (RFEs) has increased from 22.3 in 2015 to 40.2 in 2019.
• The RFE rate reached 60% during first quarter of 2019 and was 47.2% during first quarter of 2020.
• On regular basis, RFEs and NOIDs are issued to applicants for seeking evidence to establish the eligibility.
• The process of RFEs and NOIDs might land in approvals but they cause the unnecessary delay in the application. And, some RFEs and NOIDs result in improper denials wherein US employers and applicants are forced to seek relief from federal courts.

Upon considering the aforementioned changes and memorandums, it is evident that U.S. planning to make the H-1B visa process more rigorous and less accessible for those without U.S. education. The recent ban on U.S. work visa was a revelation of US Administration’s discrimination towards the foreign skilled workers.

For more info and assistance on US Immigration or US work visa norms, you may connect with us on 8595338595 or [email protected].