USCIS Moves Forward with Adjusting H-1B Cap Procedures

As stated in our previous newsletter, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed a rule that would require all H-1B petitioners to pre-register online for the H-1B lottery prior to submitting its H-1B filings. According to the proposed rule, only those H-1B petitions that have been selected in the lottery could then be submitted for the adjudication by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

On November 21, 2018, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the proposed regulation for publication in the Federal Register and public comment, which is the next step toward adjusting H-1B cap procedures. The proposed regulation will be published for public feedback in the near future. Upon review of the public feedback, USCIS will be able to finalize the regulation, and submit for the final OMB approval.

While it is not clear yet whether USCIS would be able to complete the regulatory approval process in time, the agency aims for the new system to go into effect for the FY2020 filing, which is set to begin on April 1, 2019.

Source: OMB.