On January 31, 2019, DHS published a final rule making significant changes to the H-1B visa lottery. This rule will not, repeat will not, affect how we prepare and file petitions this year. It will, however, modify the selection procedure this year. The filing procedure changes will go into effect next year. Here’s a summary of what the new rule will do:
• Add an electronic registration requirement for petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions. This requirement will go into effect NEXT year, not this year. In other words, how we prepare and file cases remains unchanged for this year.
• Reverse the order by which USCIS selects petitions. This change will go into effect this year. Rather than first carving out the master’s degree petitions, USCIS will first select petitions from the full cap-subject pool. Once it has the first 65,000 petitions, it will then select the additional 20,000 reserved for master’s degree holders. This change will increase by up to 16% the number of beneficiaries with a master’s degree or higher.
If you have employees or employee candidates or if you are a foreign national needing H-1B status, now is the time to retain Rose Immigration Law Firm. The H-1B season is upon us and we are ready.