Today, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published the final rule announcing a change in how the agency will handle the selection process for H-1B applications that are filed under the cap starting April 1, 2019. USCIS also announced that the implementation of the electronic pre-registration process will be delayed until further notice, and will not go into effect this year.
What is changing this year?
Beginning this year, USCIS will first conduct the general lottery drawing for all cases eligible for the 65,000 available H-1B visas. Once that lottery has been completed, USCIS will conduct the selection process for H-1B petitions eligible for the U.S. advanced degree lottery.? According to data from USCIS, this could lead to an increase of up to 16% in the selection of cases for individuals with a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. university.
What is not changing this year??
There will be no electronic preregistration process for H-1B petitions this year. The process will likely be implemented in the future, but not until testing and vetting has taken place.
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