Major Changes in H-1B Visa Lottery System to Enhance Legitimacy and Reduce Fraud

The yearly lottery for the H-1B specialist occupation visas, which are well-liked by Indian IT workers, will undergo significant changes this year, according to the US, in an effort to reduce fraud and enhance and expedite the registration process.

In a related development, the US officially started a pilot program on January 29 to renew the highly sought-after H-1B visas locally. This step is expected to help thousands of Indian software experts.

Non-immigrant visas such as the H-1B permit US employers to hire foreign nationals for specialized jobs requiring advanced technical or theoretical training.

Tens of thousands of workers from China and India are hired by IT businesses every year thanks to it.

Among other things, the newly redesigned system offers an employer registration registration selection process that is beneficiary-centric.

Consequently, the H-1B visa applications would now be tallied and approved based on individual applicants, as opposed to the past when several applications by a single person sometimes led to misuse and fraud of the system.

Based on their personal information, such as passport numbers, an individual's applications for several firms would all be considered as one application, even if they are filed by the same person.

A new set of regulations was also released by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), with the goal of enhancing the legitimacy of the H-1B registration procedure and lowering the possibility of fraud.

The federal government said on Tuesday that this includes lowering the possibility of systemic gaming and guaranteeing that every recipient would have an equal probability of being chosen, irrespective of the quantity of registrations filed on their behalf.

"We're always looking for ways to bolster integrity and curtail the potential for fraud while improving and streamlining our application processes," said USCIS Director Ur M Jaddou.

"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," he said.

Additionally, USCIS announced that the fiscal 2025 H-1B cap's first registration period would begin at noon on March 6 and end at noon on March 22.

During this time, potential petitioners and, if necessary, their agents, must electronically register each beneficiary for the selection process using a USCIS online account and pay the beneficiary's registration cost.

Companies will be able to register an account, which will be necessary to begin and finish the registration procedure, as of February 28.

According to USCIS, the provisions in this final rule will codify start date flexibility for certain petitions subject to the congressionally mandated H-1B cap, establish a beneficiary-centric selection process for employer registrations, and add more registration process integrity measures.

USCIS claims that registrations will be chosen by a distinct beneficiary rather than by registration under the beneficiary-centric approach. According to the statement, the purpose of the new procedure is to lessen the possibility of fraud and guarantee that every beneficiary would have an equal chance of being chosen, irrespective of the quantity of registrations that employer submits on their behalf.

Commencing with the inaugural registration period on October 1, 2024, for fiscal 2025, registrants will be required by USCIS to provide valid passport or travel document information for every beneficiary.

The beneficiary's passport or other travel document must match the one they plan to use to enter the US if granted an H-1B visa, should they find themselves overseas. According to it, each beneficiary may only be registered under a single passport or travel document.

In accordance with existing policy, USCIS is also making clear the criteria for the proposed employment start date on certain petitions that are subject to the congressionally mandated H-1B limit. This will allow filings with requested start dates that are beyond October 1 of the relevant fiscal year.

Furthermore, the H-1B final rule formalizes USCIS's authority to reject or cancel H-1B petitions in cases where the underlying registration was void or included a fraudulent attestation. According to the new regulation, USCIS may also refuse or cancel the acceptance of an H-1B petition if it finds that the registration fee was rejected, not reconciled, contested, or otherwise illegal after the petition was submitted.

The new H-1B registration procedure will change lottery registration procedures and establish a more equal system, according to a statement from Sharvari Dalal-Dheini, Director of Government Relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

"It became evident that the current method was ineffective during the registration period of the previous year, when over 750,000 registrations were filed for 85,000 visas. The kind of adjustments included in this regulation, which will guarantee a beneficiary-centric lottery procedure to level the playing field, are precisely what AILA and our partners pushed for, she added.

"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," Dalal-Dheini said.

H-1B visa holders who are already in status may renew their visas in the US prior to a short-term journey overseas thanks to a pilot initiative that will enable them to do so locally. H-1B visas are highly sought after for international employment purposes. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's historic State visit in June of last year, a statement was made in this respect.

The State Department said on Monday that applications for the pilot program would be accepted from January 29, 2024, until April 1, 2024, or until all available spaces are filled, whichever comes first.

A small number of H-1B nonimmigrants will be allowed to renew their visas from inside the US for the first time in over 20 years.

According to the State Department, the pilot program is voluntary and will accept about 4,000 applications every week. 2,000 of those applications will come from applicants who previously obtained an H-1B visa through one of the US diplomatic missions in Canada, and another 2,000 will come from applicants who previously obtained an H-1B visa through US embassies and consulates in India.

On January 29, February 5, February 12, February 19, and February 26, application slots will be made available. It said that candidates may only apply via the portal that is linked below during the times listed above. It also stated that applications would be processed in order of receipt until the weekly cap is met.

"Applicants may reapply on any of the remaining application days throughout the entrance period if they are unable to do so on one of the application dates. The deadline for applications is April 1, 2024, whichever comes first, or until all available places are filled.

Once the State Department receives the applicant's passport and other necessary papers, the processing period is expected to be between six and eight weeks.

According to the State Department, all applications will be reviewed strictly according to the order in which they are received.

The State Department said that anyone who are unable to fulfill the conditions for the pilot program or who decide not to participate may still apply for a new visa at a US embassy or consulate abroad.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.