1st March marks the highly anticipated H1B visa filing season for fiscal 2023-24 officially.
Commencement Of H1B Visa Filing Season
On March 1, the US immigration agency will start accepting applications for skilled foreign workers visas which is also the most sought-after by Indian IT professionals.
With the help of the H1B visa, which is also a non-immigrant visa, US companies employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
Dependency On H1B Visa
Basically, the technology companies depend on H1B visas to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
For the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2023, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said that it will accept applications between March 1 and March 17 petitions for H-1B visas.
These H-1B visas allow employees to work and live in the US for up to six years in specialized fields such as technology, engineering, and medicine.
This appears to open up the pathways to permanent residency or Green Card, after six years.
H1B Visa Filing Timeline
The USCIS said, “If we receive enough registrations by March 17, we will randomly select registrations and send selection notifications via users’ myUSCIS online accounts. If we do not receive enough registrations, all registrations that were properly submitted in the initial registration period will be selected,”.
Further adding, “We intend to notify account holders by March 31,” in a media release.
In the coming weeks, the USCIS would release additional information in this regard.
At present, H1B visa allocations are capped at 85,000 visas per year.
Out of this, 20,000 are set aside for workers holding advanced degrees from US institutions.
The remaining 65,000 visas are awarded through a lottery system, making the competition for H1B visas fierce.
The increased demand for H1B visas has led to calls for reforms to the programme.
Many people are advocating for an increase in the number of visas available and a simplification of the application process.
One cannot deny the fact that the H-1B programme is crucial for maintaining the United States’ position as a global leader in technology and innovation, while also supporting the country’s economy.
