The United States is set on modernizing the H1-B visa program with a slew of new reforms, including digital upgrades to the e-registration system. Ahead of the opening of the online filing period for H-1B registrations for fiscal 2025, the USCIS announced new measures to streamline the H1B visa application process, with effect from February 2024.
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As part of the new changes, the H-1B e-registration platform will feature new ‘organizational accounts’ in addition to the two types of online USCIS accounts – registrant account and representative/attorney account – for submitting H-1B registrations. The new feature will facilitate collaboration between multiple individuals working for the same organization (a company or business entity) and their legal representatives in preparing and submitting H1B registrations for prospective beneficiaries. A registrant account can be upgraded to form a company group, and all authorized members may join the organization’s group upon receiving invitation.
The coordination between the group of people authorized by the employer and their attorneys/accredited representatives will help prevent duplicate submissions for the same beneficiary. Thus, the ‘organizational accounts’ feature, besides simplifying the registration process for employers, addresses concerns regarding overrepresentation in H-1B visa registrations. For years, the H1-B lottery system has been plagued by multiple registrations for a single beneficiary to amplify their chance of selection.
As per the changes in the H1B visa application process, the USCIS is going to start online filing of H1B visas (USCIS lockbox) and allow petitioners or their legal representatives to file H1-B petitions online and also submit requests for premium processing through the online portal. At present, both Form I-129 (Petition for a Non-immigrant Worker) and Form I-907 (Request for Premium Processing Service) are typically filed at a USCIS service centre. With this transition from offline filing to online filing, the H1-B petition process becomes paperless, right from registration to processing to selection.
Online filing of H-1B petitions will be introduced as an alternate option to paper-based filing. Thus, employers may choose to file H-1B petitions themselves through organizational accounts or have it filed online by a legal representative on their behalf or go for the traditional method of filing Forms I-129 and I-907 at the direct filing address. However, the H1-B registration is an online-only process.
This announcement regarding online H-1B petition filing came a few weeks after USCIS hiked the premium processing fee for H1-B and other visas. The new fee structure to be effective from February 26 will cost sponsoring employers $2,805, a 12% hike on the previous $2500, to avail premium processing service for an H1-B petition (Form I-129). Additionally, USCIS proposed a massive visa fee hike for various categories, including H1-B. It proposed to increase the H-1B registration fee to $215 from current $10 and the Form I-129 fee to $780 from present $460.