The latest media report revealed that a comprehensive regulatory overhaul of the United States’ H-1B visa programme is currently being reviewed by the White House Office of Information of Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).
Major Overhaul For H-1B Visa Program
As we already know, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approves H-1B visas.
President-elect Donald Trump, who will assume office on January 20,
The newly elected President Donald Trump is expected to implement stricter immigration measures as compared to the earlier ones including Joe Biden.
It appears that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued draft regulations to adjust the eligibility criteria last year.
Degree Requirements For Specialty Occupation Visas
This draft includes the degree requirements for the specialty occupation visas which are primarily used by the tech industry to bring skilled foreign nations, said the media report.
Further confirming that the OIRA received the final rule (1615-AC 70) on Thursday.
Also, a rule was proposed earlier to restructure the annual lottery system for H1-B visas to ensure an equal chance to each applicant in the selection process.
It seems that this rule was finalized during January considering the fiscal 2025 lottery.
As we know, H-1B visas have an annual cap of 85,000 presently.
Around 20,000 out of these are being set aside under the “advanced degree exemption” for beneficiaries who have earned a US master’s degree or higher.
The regulations aimed at improving worker protections in two seasonal visa programmes also passed White House review earlier this week, in another development.
Last year’s (RIN 1615-AC76) rule released in draft form focused on combating illegal fees and other abuses in the temporary H-2A and H-2B visas.
These are basically for agricultural and non-farm seasonal workers, respectively.
Please note here that these regulations include penalties such as up to 4-year bans for employers violating worker protections.
