H-1B Visa For US Starts Today: Know Everything About the Visa Filing Process
Chatter at various social media platforms and groups indicate that immigration attorneys this time expect a much high rate of rejection.
The process of filing petitions for H-1B visa, considered as the most sought-after work visa among highly skilled Indian professionals begins today, amid unprecedented scrutiny by the Trump Administration. Reportedly, from today, April 2, the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) will open its doors to the H-1B visa applications for the season 2018-19. Successful applicants will be able to work in the US from October 1, 2018, during the tenure of the visa - which maybe for an initial maximum period of three years.
Chatter at various social media platforms and groups indicate that immigration attorneys this time expect a much high rate of rejection. It is being said that there will be zero tolerance even for minor errors. The H1-B visa has an annual numerical limit cap of 65,000 visas each fiscal year as mandated by the Congress. The first 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries with a US master's degree or higher are exempt from the cap.
The federal agency announced a suspension of premium processing of all H-1B petitions which are subject to the annual caps. USCIS said that the temporary suspension of H-1B premium processing would help reduce the overall H-1B visa processing time. The H-1B petition filing is for fiscal 2019, begins from October 1, 2018.
As per recent reports, the US issued employment authorisation documents to more than 71,000 spouses of H-1B visa holders, over 90 per cent of whom are Indians. The previous Obama administration had started issuing employment authorisation or work permits to the spouses of H-1B visas in 2015. The spouses or dependents of H-1B visa holders come to the US on H-4 visas, who before 2015 were not authorised to work.
Last month, the Trump administration announced a new policy that made the procedure of issuing H-1B visas very tough. Under the policy, a company would have to go an extra length to prove that its H-1B employee at a third-party worksite has specific and non-qualifying speculative assignments in speciality occupation. There were news that Indian IT companies will be affected with this policy. However, industry veteran T V Mohandas Pai commented few days back that H-1B visa approval is unlikely to have any significant impact on Indian IT companies compliant with laws, but could "hurt" bodyshops that misuse the system. To know everything about H-1B Visa Rules: Know Latest H-1B Visa Eligibility Requirements & Fees
(With additional inputs from PTI)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 02, 2018 11:08 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).