Disclaimer： All information in this document is general information of
immigration laws and procedures for educational and advertising purpose.
The information does not constitute attorney legal advice. If your need
attorney legal advice, you must contact our law firm directly at alicesunlaw
@gmail.com or 310-481-6118
郑重声明：本电子邮件和短文完全属于提供一般知识性，教育性，和广告性信息，绝对
不构成律师给您的法律建议和指导。如果您需要我们的专业律师服务，律师建议和指导
，请务必直接联系我们：[email protected] or 310-481-6118
U.S. CIS Final Rule for FY 2020 H-1B Program and Important Issues
On January 30, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a
final rule to be effective on April 1, 2019 for FY 2020 H1B visa program.
There are some important changes and issues in the upcoming H1-B application
season.
1. Final Rule for FY 2020 H-1B Visa Program
There are two important amendments of the regulations governing H-1B cap-
subject petitions.
(1) Online pre-registration will not be running in April 2019 but will be
applied to petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions in the
future
The online pre-registration requirement is approved for application to H-1B
cap-subject petitions. However, online pre-registration will not be running
in April 2019 because the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (U.S.
CIS) needs to conduct further user testing of the new H1-B registration
system. It means that H1-B applications to be filed in April 2019 will still
follow the existing filing path. The U.S. CIS will run the lottery among
all received H1B petitions in the designated period.
(2) There will be an increased chance of up to 16% for U.S. Advanced Degree
holders to win the lottery because of the reversed lottery procedures.
The final rule reverses the order by which U.S. CIS selects H-1B petitions
under the H-1B regular cap and the advanced degree exemption. By this change
, U.S. Advanced Degree holders will have more chance to win the lottery.
Specifically, the change will result in an estimated increase of up to 16% (
or 5,340 workers) in the number of selected petitions for H-1B beneficiaries
with a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. institution of higher
education.
Previously, U.S. CIS first ran the lottery to select petitions to meet the
H1-B U.S. Advanced Degree Exemption quota, which totaled 20,000 visas per
fiscal year. Then ran a lottery to select petitions to meet the H1B regular
quota in the amount of 65,000 visas. Of the overall 85,000 visa cap, every
year 6,800 visas are set aside for the citizens of Singapore and Chile as
part of the Free Trade Agreement with them. In the last few years, only
about 36% H1B petitions won the H1B visa number by the CIS lottery process.
For instance, the U.S. CIS received about 190,000 H1B petitions in the first
week of April 2018 and the random selection process was completed on April
11, 2018.
Effective April 1, 2019, U.S. CIS will first run the regular H-1B cap
lottery to select petitions (or registrations when the online pre-
registration requirement is implemented) to meet the 65,000 H1B quota from
all petitions/registrations, including the ones eligible for the advanced
degree exemption. USCIS will then select from the unselected master’s cap
petitions to meet the U.S. advanced degree exemption 20,000 quota. The
changed selection procedure will result in an estimated increase of up to 16
% (or 5,340 workers) in the number of selected petitions for H-1B
beneficiaries with a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. institution of
higher education.
2. Important Issues regarding H1-B Petition Preparation
Because the online pre-registration will not be implemented in April 2019,
an H1-B petition and its supporting documents package still need to be filed
to U.S. CIS starting April 1, 2019. Last year, the U.S. CIS announced on
April 6, 2018, that it had received enough H-1B petitions to reach the
statutory cap of 65,000 and the master’s cap of 20,000. Therefore, it is
critical to start H1B application preparation process as early as possible
to have a well-documented H1-B package ready for filing by the critical time
point.
In addition, according to the U.S. CIS, the H1-B approval rate dropped in
recent years, indicating the importance of a carefully prepared H1-B
petition.
FY 2017 FY 2016 FY 2015
Receipts 404,087 399,349 368,852
Approvals 298,445 348,162 307,129
Approval Rate 73.9% 87.2% 83.3%
According to the National Foundation for American Policy, NFAP Policy Brief,
July 2018, H - 1B denials and request for evidence (RFE) increased
significantly under the Trump Administration. The RFE rate was approximately
69% in the 4th quarter compared to 23% in the 3rd quarter of FY 2017.
Number of RFE issued for H-1B Petitions
Quarters 1, 2 and 3 of FY 2017 Combined 63,599
Quarter 4 of FY 2017 63,184
We highly recommend petitioners to work with highly experienced attorneys in
order to prepare a well-documented H1-B petition in an efficient manner.
Although the CIS has not published the statistics of the rate of approval,
denial, and RFE for the Federal Fiscal years of 2018 and 2019, immigration
attorneys commented that the rate of RFE and denials were higher in 2019 H1B
petitions filed in April 2018.
It is therefore extremely important to work on H1B application process as
early as possible with the help of highly experienced attorneys in order to
prepare a well-documented H1-B petitions for April 2019 filing.
Disclaimer： All information in this document is general information of
immigration laws and procedures for educational and advertising purpose.
The information does not constitute attorney legal advice. If your need
attorney legal advice, you must contact our law firm directly by email at
[email protected], or by phone at 310-481-6118.
郑重声明：本电子邮件和短文完全属于提供一般知识性，教育性，和广告性信息，绝对
不构成律师给您的法律建议和指导。如果您需要我们的专业律师服务，律师建议和指导
，请务必直接联系我们: [email protected], or 310-481-6118.
|
