The new mechanism will also apply for H-1B cap E-registrations that opens on March 6, for the 2025 season (ie: for the fiscal year that commences from Oct 1, 2024).In addition, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has also announced final rules that will hike visa fees from April 1, across a wide spectrum including for H-1B visas.
The H-1B visa is a very popular work visa for Indians aspiring to work in the US. Typically, at least 60% of the annual quota of 85,000 is allotted to Indian beneficiaries especially those working in the technology sector.
In 2019, USCIS had introduced an H-1B cap E-registration process against a paltry fee of $10 per registration. Under it, sponsoring employers could electronically register beneficiaries (prospective employees whom they wish to hire under the H-1B route). Detailed H-1B visa applications were then required to be filed only for those beneficiaries selected in the lottery process.
For the H-1B cap 2024 season (ie: For the fiscal year that commenced on Oct 1, 2023) USCIS had received 7,58,994 eligible registrations – a 60% rise in number over the previous year. This had raised concerns that some sponsoring companies had tried to gain an unfair advantage by working together to submit multiple registrations on behalf of the same beneficiary. This was followed by a crackdown and issue of draft rules that were covered by TOI last October.
Under the process which prevailed, the greater the number of registrations that were submitted on behalf of an individual, the higher were his or her chances of being selected in a lottery. The new mechanism eliminates such ‘gaming of the system’.
Now, under the beneficiary-centric system which kicks in for the upcoming H-1B season, a foreign national’s passport or valid travel document will be required for an H-1B cap registration submission on their behalf. This document will be used as the beneficiary’s unique identifier. Each beneficiary will only be entered into the H-1B cap lottery selection process once, regardless of how many E-registrations were submitted on their behalf. The new rules will be published in the Federal Register on Feb 2 and take effect 30 days later, before the FY 2025 H-1B cap registration system opens.
Mitch Wexler, partner at Fragomen, a global immigration law firm explains, “”Under the new system, if a beneficiary is selected, each potential employer (say Co A, Co B) that filed a registration on that beneficiary’s behalf will be notified and eligible to file an H-1B cap petition for the beneficiary.”
This in turn will also give beneficiaries some autonomy in choosing their employer, if they are selected in the lottery and have multiple job offers, explains an immigration-advisor of a multinational company.
Voices of experts:
“We’re always looking for ways to bolster integrity and curtail the potential for fraud while improving and streamlining our application processes,” said Ur M. Jaddou, director, USCIS. “The improvements in these areas should make H-1B selections more equitable for petitioners and beneficiaries and will allow for the H-1B process to be fully electronic from registration, if applicable, until final decision and transmission of approved petitions to the Department of State,” she added.
Sharvari Dalal-Dheini, director of government relations at The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) stated, “The new H-1B registration process shared today will revise how the lottery registration is run and create a more equitable system. After last year’s registration period, when more than 750,000 registrations were submitted for 85,000 visas, it was clear that the existing system was unworkable. AILA and our partners advocated for exactly the sort of changes announced in this rule; changes that will ensure a beneficiary-centric lottery process to level the playing field. It is commendable that DHS took steps to shift from a flawed model to one that will create a fairer system in time for this year’s registration period.”
The final rule also includes anti-fraud measures that enhance the ability of USCIS to deny and revoke H-1B applications based on false statements or invalid registrations.
Revision in fees:
On another front, a revised fee schedule is slated to take effect from April 1. The final rule is to be published in the Federal Register on Jan 31.
While the H-1B E-registration fee of $10 stands hiked to $ 215, per registration (a hike of over 2000%), it will not apply for the upcoming registration that opens in early March. However, post E-registration, applications for successful beneficiaries are filed in April and these applications will be covered by the revised fees, which stand increased to $780, from $460, a 70% increase. However, certain small employers and nonprofits will be subject to reduced fees. In addition, Forms I-129 (the H-1B visa application) and Forms I-140 (application for an employment-based green card) will be subject to a new Asylum Program Fee of $600. Nonprofit petitioners will be exempt from the new fee while small employers will be subject to a reduced fee of $300.
