← United States · 2019

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H-1B cap selection order changes for the FY2020 season

Validated finding · five-country-2010-20260922-v118-evidence-presentation-fix

CountryUnited States
Operative dateApril 1, 2019
CategoryMigration policy
Affected groupH-1b cap-subject petitioners and advanced-degree beneficiaries

Policy effect

USCIS changed the H-1B cap selection order for the FY2020 season beginning April 1, 2019: first select petitions for the regular cap, including eligible advanced-degree beneficiaries, then select from remaining petitions for the advanced-degree exemption. Electronic registration remained suspended for that cap season.

Conditions and exceptions

Validated condition or limit: USCIS changed the H-1B cap selection order for the FY2020 season beginning April 1, 2019: first select petitions for the regular cap, including eligible advanced-degree beneficiaries, then select from remaining petitions for the advanced-degree exemption.

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (``USCIS'') during a designated registration period, unless the registration requirement is temporarily suspended. USCIS is suspending the registration requirement for the fiscal year 2020 cap season to complete all requisite user testing of the new H-1B registration system and otherwise ensure the system and process are operable. This final rule also changes the process by which USCIS counts H-1B registrations (or petitions, for FY 2020 or any other year in which the registration requirement will be suspended), by first selecting registrations submit … ted on behalf of all beneficiaries, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption. USCIS will then select from the remaining registrations a sufficient number projected as needed to reach the advanced degree exemption. Changing the order in which USCIS counts these separate allocations will likely increase the number of beneficiaries with a master's or higher degree from a U.S. institution of higher education to be selected for further processing under the H- 1B allocations. USCIS will proceed with implementing this change to the cap allocation selection process for the FY 2020 ca … ss to increase the probability that H-1B visas will be issued, or status otherwise provided, to beneficiaries with master's degrees or higher from U.S. institutions of higher education. DHS is changing the H-1B selection process by first selecting H-1B registrations towards the projected number of petitions needed to meet the 65,000 regular cap limit, which will include all cap-subject beneficiaries, including those with a master's degree or higher from a U.S. institution of higher education. Then USCIS will select registrations that are eligible for the 20,000 advanced degree exemption, which … -subject petition for the applicable fiscal year. In addition, this final rule changes the order in which USCIS selects H-1B beneficiaries who may be counted toward the projected number of petitions needed to reach the H-1B regular cap (65,000) or the H-1B advanced degree exemption allocation (20,000). Under this final rule, USCIS will select registrations (petitions, if the registration requirement is suspended) under the regular cap first, including registrations for beneficiaries eligible for the advanced degree exemption, until the projected number needed to meet the regular cap is reached … , and only then will USCIS select registrations that are eligible for the advanced degree exemption until the projected number needed to meet the advanced degree exemption allocation is reached. This change will likely increase the number of beneficiaries with a master's or higher degree from a U.S. institution of higher education that would be selected. However, this rule does not alter the statutory limitations on the numbers of nonimmigrants who may be issued new H-1B visas or granted initial H-1B status, or who will consequently be admitted into the United States as H-1B nonimmigrants, or … land Security (``DHS'' or ``the Department'') regulations governing petitions filed on behalf of H-1B beneficiaries who may be counted toward the 65,000 visa cap established under the Immigration and Nationality Act (``H-1B regular cap'') or beneficiaries with advanced degrees from U.S. institutions of higher education who are eligible for an exemption from the regular cap (``advanced degree exemption''). The amendments require petitioners seeking to file H-1B petitions subject to the regular cap, including those eligible for the advanced degree exemption, to first electronically register with … are those with master's degrees or higher from U.S. institutions of higher education, towards the projected number needed to reach the advanced degree exemption. This process will allow those petitions with beneficiaries who have a master's degree or higher from U.S. institutions of higher education a greater chance to be selected. 4. Population The population impacted by this rule includes those petitioners who file on behalf of H-1B cap-subject beneficiaries (i.e. beneficiaries who will be subject to the regular cap, and beneficiaries on whose behalf an H-1B petition asserting an advanced d … p season (beginning on April 1, 2019), notwithstanding the delayed implementation of the H- 1B registration requirement. DATES: This final rule is effective April 1, 2019. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Buten, Adjudications (Policy) Officer, Office of Policy and Strategy, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security, 20 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20529-2140; Telephone (202) 272- 8377. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Table of Contents I. Executive Summary A. Purpose and Summary of the Regulatory Action B. Legal Authority C. Summary o …
Government Publishing OfficeRegistration Requirement for Petitioners Seeking To File H-1B Petitions on Behalf of Cap-Subject AliensOpen official source
Retrieved from https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-01-31/html/2019-00302.htm

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

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Other United States changes operative in 2019