The United States has announced a final rule to curb fraud and streamline the process for H-1B visa registration, in a move aimed at enhancing the integrity of the system. The H-1B visa, widely used by US companies to employ foreign workers with specialized skills, particularly in the technology sector, has undergone a significant overhaul.
“We’re always looking for ways to bolster integrity and curtail the potential for fraud while improving and streamlining our application processes,” said USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou.
“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 final decision and transmission of approved petitions to the Department of State,” she added.
The key features of the final rule include a beneficiary-centric selection process for registrations, reducing the potential for gaming the system. The final rule will make the H-1B selection process fully electronic, from registration to the transmission of approved petitions to the Department of State.
H-1B Registration Final Rule
Under the beneficiary-centric process, registrations will be selected based on unique beneficiaries rather than the number of registrations submitted on their behalf. This approach is designed to minimize the potential for fraud and provide an equal chance of selection for each beneficiary. Starting with the fiscal year 2025 initial registration period, registrants must provide valid passport or travel document information for each beneficiary.
The final rule also codifies USCIS' authority to deny or revoke H-1B petitions with false attestations or invalid registrations. Additionally, USCIS may deny or revoke petition approvals if the associated registration fee is declined, not reconciled, disputed, or found otherwise invalid after submission.
USCIS is also providing flexibility regarding the requested employment start date on certain petitions subject to the congressionally mandated H-1B cap, permitting filing with requested start dates after October 1 of the relevant fiscal year, in alignment with existing policy.
The Fee Schedule final rule, which will go into effect after the initial registration period for the FY 2025 H-1B cap, maintains the registration fee at $10 during the registration period starting in March 2024.
A new edition of Form I-129, incorporating the changes from the H-1B Registration final rule and Fee Schedule final rule, will be available for preview on uscis.gov with an edition date of 04/01/24. Starting April 1, 2024, only the 04/01/24 edition of Form I-129 will be accepted.
2025 H-1B Season
The initial registration period for the fiscal year 2025 H-1B cap is set to open at noon Eastern on March 6, 2024, and will run through noon Eastern on March 22, 2024. Prospective petitioners must use a USCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically during this period.
USCIS will also introduce new organizational accounts in the USCIS online account, allowing collaboration on H-1B registrations, petitions, and associated forms. Online filing for Form I-129 and associated Form I-907 for non-cap H-1B petitions will commence on February 28, 2024. Petitioners with selected registrations can begin online filing for H-1B cap petitions and associated forms on April 1, 2024.
While petitioners retain the option of filing paper forms, USCIS encourages the use of the online filing system for its efficiency. It is important to note that USCIS will implement a filing fee increase for Form I-907, effective February 26, 2024, to account for inflation.
