H-1B filing increases as Trump-era rules lapse against non-immigrant workers

BENGALURU: H-1B visa applications for 2021-22 has seen an uptick after the Joe Biden government let a June 2020 executive order banning the issuance of new non-immigrant worker visas expire.

The U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS ) said in a statement that it has received more electronic H-1B cap registrations than available H-1B numbers under the quota of 85,000 new H-1B filings, necessitating a lottery.

Typically, Indians account for 60 per cent of such visa applications, according to official estimates. The USCIS had conducted two rounds of the lottery system last year due to insufficient applications for H-1B visas.

“We randomly selected from among the registrations properly submitted to reach the cap. We have notified all prospective petitioners with selected registrations that they are eligible to file an H-1B cap-subject petition for the beneficiary named in the applicable selected registration,” the agency said.

Former US President Donald Trump had barred the entry of eligible work visa holders, first for 60 days till August, which was later extended till December and then March 31, 2021.

Despite repeated pleas by a few Republican lawmakers for a further extension in the ban due to the second wave of coronavirus, the Biden administration has decided otherwise.

With the expiration of the order, those who were impacted by the travel ban will now be able to resume work in the US.

It will thereby permit US-based IT companies to begin hiring foreign workers again. A republic senator from Missouri wrote a letter to the US President saying that the H-1B ban has protected native workers from the pandemicinduced stress.

“With millions of struggling Americans out of work – and millions more desperate to make ends meet – now is not the time to open the floodgates to thousands of foreign workers,” he said.

The Biden administration has also asked the Department of Labour to review two other rules proposed to toughen the selection of H1-B workers, including the lottery selection system and the current wage structure.