White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks at a press briefing at the White House in Washington.
| Photo Credit: AP

U.S. President Joe Biden is doing everything he can to improve the H1B visa process, ‘green card’ backlog and other issues related to the country’s legal immigration system, the White House has said.

The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

“One of the steps, if we look at the H1B visa process, we have taken action to improve that and the process and backlog for lawful permanent residents (green card) who are eligible to become U.S. citizens,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference on Wednesday.

She was responding to questions about the feeling among a section of Indian Americans that the President is not putting as much effort on addressing the woes of legal immigrants as he is doing for illegal immigrants.

Mr. Biden heads to the southern border with Mexico in Texas on Thursday.

“Just last month, for example, as a part of our efforts to strengthen the integrity of our immigration system and reduce potential for fraud, the DHS published a final rule relating to H1B visa,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said.

“So, the changes promote fairer and more equitable outcomes and, so, we will continue our work to improve the system within our authorities and that has certainly been a priority,” she said and added that the administration takes that “very seriously” and is continuing to do everything that it can to improve the visa process.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced the launch of myUSCIS organisational accounts that will allow multiple people within an organisation, as well as their legal representatives, to collaborate on and prepare H1B registrations, H-1B petitions and any associated Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service.

A new organisational account is required to participate in the H1B Electronic Registration Process starting in March 2024, the USCIS said. 

“We are working expeditiously to address any technical issues that may arise for legal representatives whose accounts migrated when they logged into their online account on or after February 14, 2024, including impacts on cases other than H1B filings,” it said.

The initial registration period for FY 2025 H1B cap will open at noon Eastern on March 6, and run through noon Eastern on March 22.

During this period, prospective petitioners and their representatives, if applicable, must use a USCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated registration fee for each beneficiary, its media alert said.   

Starting with the FY 2025 initial registration period, USCIS will require registrants to provide valid passport information or valid travel document information for each beneficiary.

The passport or travel document provided must be the one the beneficiary, if or when abroad, intends to use to enter the US if issued an H1B visa. Each beneficiary must only be registered under one passport or travel document.

“In March, we will launch online filing of Form I-129 and associated Form I-907 for non-cap H1B petitions. On April 1, USCIS will begin accepting online filing for H1B cap petitions and associated Forms I-907 for petitioners whose registrations have been selected,” the federal agency said.

To help guide organisations and legal representatives through the new process, the USCIS had launched the Tech Talks sessions in February 2024. During these sessions, individuals can ask questions about the organisational accounts and online filing of Form I-129 for H1B petitions.

The USCIS encourages all individuals involved in the H1B registration and petition filing process to attend these sessions. Additional information and dates are available on the Upcoming National Engagements page, it said.

The Biden administration is proposing changes in the H-1B foreign workers programme to improve efficiency by streamlining eligibility, providing more flexibility to F-1 students, entrepreneurs and those working for non-profit bodies and ensuring better condition for other non-immigrant workers.

The rules, which are scheduled to be published by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on October 23 in the Federal Register have been proposed without changing the Congress-mandated 60,000 limit on the number of such visas the U.S. issues every year.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.

It is typically issued for three to six years to employers to hire a foreign worker. But H-1B holders who have begun the Green Card process can often renew their work visas indefinitely.

The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

Making the proposed rules public for stakeholders to give their comments and feedback, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the proposed changes in the rules are aimed at streamlining eligibility requirements, improving programme efficiency, providing greater benefits and flexibilities to employers and workers, and strengthening integrity measures.

The H-1B programme helps U.S. employers hire the employees they need to meet their business needs and remain competitive in the global marketplace, while adhering to all U.S. worker protection norms under the law.

In a statement, the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N Mayorkas said the Biden-Harris administration’s priority is to attract global talent, reduce undue burdens on employers, and prevent fraud and abuse in the immigration system.

Observing that the H-1B non-immigrant visa programme allows US employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in speciality occupations, defined by statute as occupations that require highly specialised knowledge and a bachelor’s or higher degree in the specific speciality or its equivalent, the DHS said the proposed rule would change how USCIS conducts the H-1B registration selection process to reduce the possibility of misuse and fraud.

Under the current process, the more registrations that are submitted on behalf of an individual, the higher the chances of that person being selected in a lottery. Under the new proposal, each individual who has a registration submitted on their behalf would be entered into the selection process once, regardless of the number of registrations submitted on their behalf, the DHS said in a statement.

“This would improve the chances that a legitimate registration would be selected by significantly reducing or eliminating the advantage of submitting multiple registrations for the same beneficiary solely to increase the chances of selection. Furthermore, it could also give beneficiaries more choice between legitimate job offers because each registrant who submitted a registration for a selected beneficiary would have the ability to file an H-1B petition on behalf of the beneficiary,” it said.

Under the proposed rule, the criteria for speciality occupation positions would be revised to reduce confusion between the public and adjudicators and to clarify that a position may allow a range of degrees, although there must be a direct relationship between the required degree field(s) and the duties of the position.

The proposed rule codifies that adjudicators generally should defer to a prior determination when no underlying facts have changed at the time of a new filing.

Under the proposed rule, certain exemptions to the H-1B cap would be expanded for certain nonprofit entities or governmental research organisations as well as beneficiaries who are not directly employed by a qualifying organisation.

The DHS would also extend certain flexibility for students on an F-1 visa when students are seeking to change their status to H-1B. Additionally, the department would establish new H-1B eligibility requirements for rising entrepreneurs.

Strengthening integrity measures in addition to changing the selection process, misuse and fraud in the H-1B registration process would be reduced by prohibiting related entities from submitting multiple registrations for the same beneficiary. The rule would also codify USCIS’ authority to conduct site visits and clarify that refusal to comply with site visits may result in denial or revocation of the petition, the DHS said.

Indian American Ajay Bhutoria, a leading advocate for immigration reform welcomed the proposed ‘Modernizing H-1B Requirements, Providing Flexibility in the F-1 Programme, and Programme Improvements Affecting Other Nonimmigrant Workers’ regulation.

These proposed changes mark a significant step towards streamlining our immigration system and making it more accessible for highly skilled professionals and students from around the world, Bhutoria said.

“The proposed reform plan reflects a thoughtful approach to addressing some of the long-standing issues in the H-1B visa programme, including providing more flexibility to F-1 students and improving conditions for other nonimmigrant workers. We appreciate the DHS’s commitment to fostering an environment that is conducive to attracting global talent and maintaining the competitiveness of American industries,” Bhutoria said.

The US Mission to India has exceeded its target by processing over one million non-immigrant visa applications this year. US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti personally handed over the one millionth visa to an Indian couple visiting their son for his graduation at MIT.

The milestone signifies stronger ties between the US and India amid their strategic partnership. It also indicates the increasing interest among Indians to travel to the US post COVID pandemic.

According to news agency PTI, the recipient of the one millionth non-immigrant visa to the US is Dr Ranju Singh from Delhi. Her husband was granted the next visa. Ambassador Eric Garcetti greeted the couple as “Mr and Mrs One Million” while handing over their visa to them. The couple will travel to the US in May next year.

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti hands over passport to one millionth visa holder and her spouse in Delhi pic.twitter.com/U77h5rn752

— ANI (@ANI) September 28, 2023

“I couldn’t be happier today, happy for India, Indians and the United States,” said Eric Garcetti.

While talking about what went behind this achievement, the Ambassador said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden had said let’s do a better job in moving faster on the visas and so the Ministry of External Affairs here approved more bodies in places like Hyderabad, more people who can work on these visas, we changed our systems, we worked harder and smarter and we hit a million visa applications processed this year.”

“Our partnership with India is one of the United States’ most vital bilateral relationships. The ties between our people are stronger than ever, and we will continue our record-setting volume of visa work in the coming months,” Ambassador Eric Garcetti said,

Last year, over 1.2 million Indians visited the US, solidifying this as one of the world’s most substantial travel relationships. Indians now account for over 10% of all visa applicants worldwide, with 20% seeking student visas and 65% applying for H&L-category employment visas.

To address the surging demand for US visas, the United States has made substantial investments in its operations in India. The US Mission has expanded its workforce to streamline visa processing, upgraded facilities at the US Consulate in Chennai, and inaugurated a new Consulate building in Hyderabad.

According to the US Embassy here, strategies to enhance efficiency have been implemented such as extending interview waiver eligibility and leveraging remote work to involve staff from around the world in Indian visa processing. A pilot program is also set to be implemented next year, allowing domestic visa renewal for qualified H&L-category employment visa applicants.