The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is making ready to conduct a lottery to pick H-1B visa beneficiaries, together with the grasp’s cap for superior US diploma holders. This comes with the closure of the preliminary H-1B sign-up interval for the fiscal yr 2025 on March 25.

The USCIS prolonged the registration deadline for H-1B visas for FY 2025 by three days, from March 22 to March 25, due to a technical glitch.

The agency introduced that it’s going to notify all potential petitioners with chosen beneficiaries, indicating their eligibility to file an H-1B cap-subject petition.

Because the demand for H-1B visas is rather more than what’s on provide, the US agency makes use of a lottery system.

Companies file extra H-1B purposes than the annual restrict of 85,000, and the USCIS makes use of a lottery to determine the beneficiaries.

In latest years, Indian tech professionals have dominated the H-1B cap-subject visas, securing about 70% of the 85,000 visas accessible, together with the 20,000 grasp’s cap for superior US diploma holders, in response to Forbes.

In 2022, Indians secured 77% of the 320,000 permitted H-1B visas. This yr, the USCIS anticipates round 350,000 candidates, a decrease attributed to new measures against fraud.

Last yr, over 400,000 out of 759,000 registrations had been duplicated.

The USCIS filing fee for beneficiaries on H-1B petitions will rise by 70%, whereas these on L-1 petitions will see a 201% improve, and people on O-1 petitions will face a 129% improve, in response to the experiences.

H-1B VISA FILING LOCATION CHANGES

Starting April 1, USCIS is altering the submitting location for H-1B Form I-129 to a lockbox. This signifies that H-1B and H-1B1 (HSC) Form I-129 petitions should now not be filed on the USCIS service centres.

Instead, all paper-based petitions have to be filed at USCIS lockbox places, together with cap, non-cap, and cap-exempt H-1B filings.

The USCIS emphasised that any H-1B or H-1B1 (HSC) petitions acquired at a USCIS service centre on or after April 1, 2024, might be rejected with no grace interval offered. To keep away from rejection, petitioners should be sure that their petitions are filed on the appropriate location.

Additionally, USCIS introduced new online organisational accounts ‘MyUSCIS’ on February 28, permitting a number of people inside an organisation and their authorized representatives to collaborate on and put together H-1B registrations, petitions, and related Form I-907.

USCIS additionally launched an internet submitting for non-cap H-1B petitions on March 25, with an internet submitting for H-1B cap petitions set to start on April 1 for chosen petitioners.

FEE ADJUSTMENTS AND NEW FORM VERSIONS

Furthermore, USCIS reminded petitioners in regards to the adjustment of charges for most immigration purposes and petitions, efficient April 1, 2024.

Petitions postmarked on, or after this date should embrace the brand new charges, with no grace interval offered for submitting the brand new model of Form I-129.

As USCIS transitions to lockbox and on-line submitting for H-1B petitions, pay as you go mailers will now not be used for communication or remaining notices relating to H-1B or H-1B1 (HSC) petitions.

Instead, USCIS will automate the method of printing and mailing H-1B petition approval notices through first-class mail. MyUSCIS account holders may also obtain notifications of case standing adjustments through electronic mail or textual content message.

The postmark date of a submitting might be used to find out the right kind model and costs, whereas the acquired date will apply for regulatory or statutory submitting deadlines.