A comprehensive regulatory review of the H-1B visa program is currently being considered by the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) and is in its final stages before being made public, Bloomberg Law reports.
Last year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released draft regulations adjusting eligibility standards, including degree requirements, for professional visas, which are used primarily by technology industries to hire skilled foreign workers. . On Thursday, OIRA received the final rule (1615-AC70), the report added.
Business Today could not independently verify the development.
Previously proposed rules also restructured the annual lottery system for H-1B visas to ensure each applicant has an equal opportunity in the selection process. The changes were finalized in January ahead of the 2025 visa lottery.
The H-1B visa program is limited to 85,000 new visas per year.
In a separate development, regulations aimed at improving worker protections in two seasonal visa programs also passed White House review earlier this week.
The rule (RIN 1615-AC76), released as a draft last year, addresses illegal fees and other fraud in the temporary H-2A and H-2B visa programs serving agricultural and non-agricultural seasonal workers, respectively. Focused on the fight. The proposed regulations include penalties for employers who violate worker protections, including suspension for up to four years. The proposal also removed the requirement to annually publish a list of countries eligible for these seasonal visa programs.
If implemented, this change would impact H-1B visa applicants, particularly India’s IT sector, which is the primary beneficiary of the visa program.
US H-1B visa approval drop-in
In total, only 7,299 H-1B visa applications for new hires were approved at India’s top seven IT companies in FY2024, a significant decrease from the 14,792 approvals reported in FY2015. This analysis was conducted by the National Policy Foundation. The US-based non-partisan think tank (NFAP) highlights a significant downward trend in approvals for these companies.
The 7,299 approvals represent only 5.2% of the total number of H-1B visa approvals in fiscal year 2024 and just 0.004% of the U.S. civilian workforce. According to NFAP’s findings, the denial rate for H-1B visa applications remains low at 2.5%, down slightly from 3.5% in FY2023.
The report also warned that denial rates could rise if the incoming Trump administration reinstates the restrictive immigration policies seen in his first term.
Meanwhile, the USCIS announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will significantly extend the automatic renewal period for work permits for spouses of H-1B and L-1 visa holders. After January 13, 2025, the renewal period for applications submitted after May 4, 2022 will be extended from 180 days to a maximum of 540 days.
