Washington: The US federal agency responsible for H-1B visas has disclosed that the application submission process for fiscal year 2025 is set to commence on March 6, unveiling a significant revamp of the annual lottery for this specialized visa category.
The H-1B visa, designed for non-immigrant workers, allows US companies to engage foreign individuals in specialized occupations requiring theoretical or technical expertise. Notably, technology firms heavily rely on this visa program to hire a substantial workforce, often from countries like India and China.
Under the new system, key changes include a beneficiary-centric selection process for registrations by employers. Unlike the past practice of counting multiple applications by an individual, which led to system abuse and fraud, H-1B visa applications will now be counted based on individual applicants. Even if one individual files multiple applications for various companies, they will be considered as a single application based on personal credentials such as passport numbers.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has also introduced new rules aimed at bolstering integrity and reducing fraud in the H-1B registration process. These measures include minimizing the potential for manipulating the registration system, ensuring equal chances of selection for each beneficiary, and promoting a fully electronic H-1B process from registration to the final decision.
Director of USCIS, Ur M. Jaddou, stated, “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 the final decision and transmission of approved petitions to the Department of State.”
The initial registration period for the fiscal 2025 H-1B cap will open on March 6 and run through March 22. Prospective petitioners must use a USCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically and pay the associated registration fee.
Starting February 28, companies can open their accounts to begin and complete the registration process. USCIS clarified that the beneficiary-centric process would select registrations by unique beneficiary rather than by registration, reducing the potential for fraud.
From fiscal 2025 onwards, USCIS will require registrants to provide valid passport information or valid travel document information for each beneficiary. The agency is also clarifying requirements related to the requested employment start date on certain petitions subject to the congressionally mandated H-1B cap.
Additionally, the H-1B final rule codifies USCIS’ authority to deny or revoke petitions with invalid registrations and permits denial or revocation if the fee associated with the registration is declined, not reconciled, disputed, or otherwise invalid after submission.
Sharvari Dalal-Dheini, Director of Government Relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), commended the changes, stating that they will create a fairer system and address issues seen in the previous registration period when more than 750,000 registrations were submitted for 85,000 visas.