The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted the latest version of the H-1B Reform Program on the Federal Gazette on January 30 local time, which has been renamed "Improving the H-1B Registration Selection Process and Program Integrity" The reform plan will be officially published on the Federal Gazette Online for 30 days on February 2, and will go into effect on March 3, 2024, 30 days later, which means that the new policy will be used for H-1B petitions in the 2024 round of lottery.
Details:
Full implementation of one person, one draw / 01
The new "one person, one lottery" policy will ensure that each applicant can only have one chance to draw lots, making the whole lottery process more fair. This change means that eligibility for the lottery will be tied directly to the individual applicant – the beneficiary – rather than to the number of registrations by the employer.
Multiple employers register for the same beneficiary/02
Although a beneficiary can be registered by multiple employers, this does not improve their chances of obtaining a visa. Only if the beneficiary is successfully selected will all employers registered for them be eligible to file an H-1B visa petition.
Application Fee / 03
While USCIS previously proposed to increase the filing fee to $215, the H-1B online registration fee will remain at $10 until April 1, 2024.
In addition, the reforms mentioned in the previous proposal, such as extending the cap-gap time for F1B winners in the current year, expanding the scope of application of H-1B without lottery, and revising the definition of "professional positions", will not be carried forward in this reform policy.
In the past, USCIS H-1B lottery practice was to participate in the lottery for each registration, which means that if one employee has more than one employer registration, there will be multiple lottery opportunities, and the practice of one person drawing multiple lotteries can indeed increase the winning rate.
But it also fuels false registrations (780,000 in '23) that deprive most ordinary students of equal access to the lottery. Students who have been through the lottery in the past few years are deeply disgusted by this.
The new proposal provides that the H-1B lottery will be changed from the original "one registration, one lottery" to "one person, one lottery", that is, each beneficiary (H-1B worker) who enters the electronic registration system will only enter the lottery process once, that is, no matter how many employers file the electronic registration for the beneficiary, the beneficiary will only be drawn once.
EB-5, a better alternative to restrictive visas
Graduates must go through the following procedures to stay in the United States: OPT internship – H-1B work lottery - EB-2/3 to green card.
The official website of USCIS announced that the number of H-1B petitions in fiscal year 2024 reached a record high of 780,884, while the effective winning rate was 14.6%, which was a historical low. However, even if the character explodes and the H-1B work permit is drawn, it will take another 5 or 6 years to change the green card, and every step in the middle requires the cooperation of the employer, and the difficulty can be imagined.
Even with the introduction of the new regulations, it is to be expected that it is absolutely impossible to turn back the clock on H-1B petitions, and the number of 300,000 or 400,000 petitions is basically a sure thing.
At the same time, in the past two years, waves of layoffs have also made the top students who work hard in the United States depressed and everyone is in danger. The identity dilemma faced by the layoffs has also forced many students to give up their careers in the United States.
Chinese and Indian citizens work on H-1B visas in the U.S. account for a large percentage. At the same time, H-1B visa holders can only work in certain fields and need to be sponsored by an employer. If an H-1B visa holder loses their job, they must quickly find another employer to sponsor them or leave the United States. The EB-5 visa is becoming increasingly popular as an alternative to more restrictive visas. Many H-1B and E-2 visa holders are seeking EB-5 visas to avoid the restrictions they face.
☑️ There are no requirements for academic qualifications, language, or background;
☑️ You only need to invest in a designated project to immigrate;
☑️ Spouse and children are allowed
☑️ You can apply for naturalization after 5 years of U.S. green card;
☑️ You don't need to run it yourself, you can come and go freely.
The new EB-5 policy grants 20%, 10%, and 2% visa reservations for rural areas, urban areas with high unemployment, and infrastructure projects, respectively, and priority is given to petitions submitted under the new law.
L-526 and I-485 are double-filed, and I-765 (EAD) and I-131 (travel card) can be submitted at the same time as the I-485 application.
If you have any questions about EB-5 investment immigration, going abroad, studying abroad, overseas real estate, etc., welcome to consult!