Share to twitterActing Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli speaks at a White House briefing on August 12, 2019. Business and education groups warn that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services may court disaster if the agency implements a new electronic system for H-1B petitions without sufficient testing and input from employers. The registration system, based on afinalized in January, is expected to be used in April 2020 for the FY 2021 H-1B cap season.
The organizations expressing concern about the proposed H-1B registration system include the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Council on Education, FWD.us and a variety of technology trade associations and other organizations, such as the Compete America Coalition, the BSA | The Software Alliance and the Semiconductor Industry Association.
An H-1B petition is generally the only path to the American Dream for international students and those educated abroad seeking jobs and careers in the U.S. that require a bachelor’s degree or higher. For employers, an H-1B visa is often the only practical way to hire a foreign national to work long-term in America in technology, finance and other fields.
“To be eligible to file a petition for a beneficiary who may be counted against the H-1B regular cap or the H-1B advanced degree exemption for a particular fiscal year, a registration must be properly submitted,” according to the regulation. “A petitioner may file an H-1B cap-subject petition on behalf of a registered beneficiary only after the petitioner's registration for that beneficiary has been selected for that fiscal year.