The selection criteria for H-1B visas may soon undergo significant changes, impacting foreign workers looking for jobs in the United States. The skill level and salary offered to foreign workers may have a significant impact on the likelihood of getting an H-1B visa.
A proposal sent by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to the White House for a revision in the H-1B visa selection procedure has been authorized by the White House, reports Bloomberg Law. There are indications that it will be made public soon.
A proposed regulation called “Weighted Selection Process for Registrants and Petitioners Seeking To File Cap-Subject H-1B Petitions” was submitted for statutory review in a notice sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) of the US Office of Management and Budget.
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs cleared the rule on August 8.
The Immigration Act of 1990 established an annual limit of 65,000 new H-1B applications. In 2004, Congress increased the H-1B annual limit to 85,000 by exempting 20,000 people per year who have received a master’s degree or higher from a US university.
Existing Selection Process
Previously, H-1B candidates were selected using a lottery procedure. Later, the lottery mechanism was replaced by a beneficiary-centered selection procedure for H-1B registrations.
Currently, in the beneficiary-centric selection procedure, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) picks registrations based on the unique beneficiary.
Proposed Selection Process
It appears that H-1B candidates will be selected based on their abilities, experience level, and salary, under the new proposal.
Although US Citizenship and Immigration Services has not released any information about the regulation, it is widely expected to revive the first Trump administration’s attempt to choose H-1B petitions based on a statutory wage cap rather than a random lottery.
If the new approach is approved, H-1B petitions will be issued based on wage, from highest to lowest.
Unless a lawsuit is successful in blocking the rule, the new H-1B selection procedure might be implemented by March 2026, prior to the FY 2027 H-1B cap selection.
2021 Proposal
A similar proposal in 2021 was floated during Trump’s first Presidency but was shelved by Biden’s administration. The 2021 H-1B visa proposal was – “USCIS will rank and select the petitions received on the basis of the highest Occupational Employment Statistics wage level that the proffered wage equals or exceeds for the relevant Standard Occupational Classification code in the area of intended employment, beginning with OES wage level IV and proceeding in descending order with OES wage levels III, II, and I.”